This presentation discusses the growing issue of plastic pollution and its effects on the environment. It notes that human civilization has progressed through Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and are now in the Plastic Age. Plastic is widely used for various domestic, medical, agricultural, and industrial purposes. However, plastic waste pollutes the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Microplastics in particular enter the oceans and aquatic food chains, threatening biodiversity. Burning plastic releases toxic gases that pollute air and contribute to climate change. Potential solutions discussed include banning certain plastics, promoting bioplastics and alternative materials, and developing plastic-degrading enzymes.

1. WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
2018
WELCOME
To
POWER POINT PRESENTATION
By
K.K.Gupta
University Dept. of Zoology
VBU

2. Earth’s surface is being noticeably altered by the
production of long-lasting man-made
materials, resulting in us entering an ‘age of plastic’,

3. Age of Human Civilization
Since the days of human civilization ( about 200,000 yrs
ago) , Human has explored many materials for their use
and accordingly we have evidences
Of
• Stone Age – 8700 BC-2000 BC (Pashan
Yuga)
• Bronze Age-3300 BC -1200 BC -(kans Yuga)
• Iron Age ( Loh yuga)-1200-1000 BC & Now
• Plastic Yuga (1862-continuing ……………?

4. Uses of Plastic
• Domestic Purpose- Toys, Furniture , Door , Door
mates , Water bottles Utensils, Plastic bags and
many more ,
• Medicals – Syringe . Wrappers , surgical gloves,
Plastic surgery etc
• Automobiles – Pipes ,Tyres , Vehicles body parts
• Agriculture – Green house construction, Seed
packaging bags
• Electrical gadgets – Wire, plugs, sockets, fan
blades etc.

5. Statistics of Use Of Plastic

6. Effect on Environment
• Biosphere has three spheres
New studies reveal that tiny plastic fibres are everywhere, not just in our oceans but on
land too. Now we urgently need to find out how they enter our food, air and tap water and
what the effects are on all of us

7. Sources & Pollutants
SourceSource
• Peterochemicals
• The main source of synthetic
plastics is crude oil. Coal and
natural gas are also used to
produce plastics. Petrol,
paraffin, lubricating oils and
high petroleum gases are bi-
products, produced during the
refining of crude oil. These
gases are broken down into
monomers and polymerisation
of these monomers leads to
plastic production
Pollutants
• Microplastics - Affecting
Litho &hydrosphere
• CFC – from plastic foam ,
carbon monoxide, dioxins
and furans are released
into the air by plastic burn
of PVC
• Polychlorinated biphenyl
and mercury

8. Compositions

9. Effects of Micro-Plastic
• Microplastics are generally described as plastic
particles with a diameter of less than 5mm.
• They are the product of washing the cloth ,
tearing or rubbing of plastic items .By washing
machine it directly comes in water bodies
through drainage and ultimately in ocean
•
• • Microplastics that are commonly recorded in
the oceans include polyethylene (PE),
polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS)

10. Effect on lithospheres
Microplastics from the
different activities

11. • In the aquatic ecosystem these microplasitecs are , absorbed
,ingested translocated in the aquatic food chain and food web i.e it
makes bioavailbilty to all aquatic organisms leading to death and
loss of biodiversity
Microplastic particles ingested by
a larval perch
A magnified image of clothing microfibres from
washing machine effluent. One study found
that a fleece jacket can shed as many as
250,000 fibres per wash. Photograph: Courtesy
of Rozalia Project

12. Plastic & water pollution
• Between 5 million and 13 million tonnes of
plastic leak into the world’s oceans every year.
Which is more than the combined weight of
every single blue whale on Earth
• Plastic pollution in our oceans poses a real threat
to 56% of whales and dolphins. Who are filter
feeders and mistakenly ingest plastic as food
• The bathrooms are one of the worst places for
plastic packaging – shampoo and conditioner
bottles, toothpaste tubes and shower gel
dispensers are all made from single use plastic –
Thus Up to 95% of litter that makes its way into the oceans
comes from our towns and cities.

14. Every aerobic organisms requires fresh air with oxygen.
Incineration of plastic waste in an open field is a major source of air
pollution.
Most of the times, the Municipal Solid Waste containing about 12% of
plastics is burnt, releasing toxic gases like Dioxins, Furans, Mercury and
Polychlorinated Biphenyls into the atmosphere.
Further, burning of Poly Vinyl Chloride liberates hazardous halogens and
pollutes air, the impact of which is climate change.
The toxic substances thus released are posing a threat to vegetation, human
and animal health and environment as a whole.

15. Effects of plastic pollution
• Polystyrene is harmful to Central Nervous System.
• The hazardous brominated compounds act as carcinogens and mutagens.
• Dioxins settle on the crops and in our waterways where they eventually enter
into our food and hence the body system.
• These Dioxins are the lethal persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and its worst
component, 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), commonly known as
agentorange is a toxic compound which causes cancer and neurological
damage, disrupts reproductive thyroid and respiratory systems.
• Thus, burning of plastic wastes increase the risk of heart disease, aggravates
respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema and cause rashes, nausea
or headaches, and damages the nervous system.
• Hence, a sustainable step towards tomorrow's cleaner and healthier
environment needs immediate attention of the environmentalists and
scientists.

16. Solution
• Either BAN or search for BAN
Better alternative Now
Like
• Awareness of Hazards of plastic
• Use of Bioplastics
• Alternative use of packaging materials can
minimize 67% of plastic pollution
• Use of Plastic degrading enzyme like
Researchers from Britain's University of Portsmouth and the US Department of Energy's
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) made the discovery while examining the
structure of a natural enzyme found in a waste recycling centre a few years ago in Japan,.
Enzyme, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, is able to "eat" polyethylene terephthalate, PET,
which was patented as a plastic in the 1940s and is used in millions of tonnes of plastic
bottles.
By protein engineering it can be further modified

17. THANKS FOR GIVING THE
PLATEFORM
&
LISTENING PATIENTLY