While modernisation and technological development have helped make life easier and more comfortable, it has brought many disadvantages and negative and detrimental changes in some instances. One such instance has been the increasing use of plastic bags and styrofoam boxes and products where in many countries, including ours, they have become an environmental hazard and burden causing all sorts of problems, including blocking of drainage systems.
Recently, this newspaper has received letters calling for the banning of styrofoam products, with one letter writer mentioning his pleasant experience at a New Jersey restaurant where all the utensils were made of bamboo, which of course is bio-degradable and environmentally friendly.
Apart from the huge garbage disposal difficulty and environmental hazard styrofoam products and plastic bags are causing, studies, while not conclusive, have linked styrene exposure to an increased risk of leukaemia and lymphoma
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), several epidemiological studies suggest a possible association between styrene exposure and an increased risk of leukaemia and lymphoma; however, the evidence is inconclusive due to confounding factors. The EPA has not given a formal carcinogen classification to styrene.
Although styrofoam is not technically classified as a carcinogen, it contains damaging chemicals.
In 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, reclassified styrene from a Group 3 (not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity) to a Group 2B substance (possibly carcinogenic to humans).
According to a Foundation for Achievements in Science and Education fact sheet, long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene can cause neurotoxic (fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping), haematological (low platelet and haemoglobin values), cytogenetic (chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities), and carcinogenic effects.
Styrofoam, or polystyrene, has been identified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The health risks mainly affect those involved in the production of it, and also include irritation of skin, eyes, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts; as well as nervous system damage leading to depression, headache, fatigue, and weakness. They can also leach chemicals into food they contain, especially when microwaved, bringing these health risks home to consumers as well. And as petroleum products, they are unsustainable and are also highly polluting during production, and during their long stays in the landfills where they usually end up. In other words, it’s just plain bad stuff!
Against this backdrop, many countries have banned the use of plastic bags and have placed severe restrictions on the use of styrofoam products.
Our experience with the use of plastic bags and styrofoam products has been a horrible one creating a huge littering and garbage disposal problem. Styrofoam boxes and plastic bags can virtually be seen in every drain, trench, alleyway, on every parapet and road etc. In fact, they have led to  a new culture of dumping garbage from vehicles.
Therefore, the call for banning the use of styrofoam products and plastic bags should be given serious consideration by our authorities. It may not be practicable to completely ban their use, but at least their use should drastically be curtailed by legal and regulatory means because the problem is not on the decline, rather it is escalating at an alarming rate.