Polythene is degrading your Health #rejectpolybags

Most of us know that polythene is harmful, but we don't care. The reason is that we don't know the extent of harm that it can create. We are not aware of its harmfulness. What we care is the convenience that we have in carrying our grocery from a shopping outlet to our home in a thin plastic bag. Most of these polythene bags are also called single use plastic bags as most often they are used only ones and then thrown in garbage. Betterhealthfacts.com has collected some important information about the harmful effects of these polythene bags on your health and your environment.

How Polythene bags affects your health ?
Polythene bags and plastic bottles are widely used to carry food items and water. Sometimes people don't even hesitate is drinking some hot drink in a plastic glass. Chemicals like polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polystyrene can leach from a plastic bag or container into the food item. Therefore eating food stored in plastic bags or drinking water from a plastic bottle can make you a prey of these compounds. According to a cardiovascular specialist every person in a  metro city have 2 to 3 grams of plastic in their body. Whenever a hot food item is carried in a plastic container the chemicals in plastic can easily leach into the food item and will end up in your body.
Some people try to burn the plastic garbage to get rid of it, but they don't know that plastic fumes can cause skin and respiratory problems.
According to some medical practitioners kidney and throat ailments, cancer and infertility are increasing due to usage of plastic bags in food items.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is compound found in plastic which can cause breast cancer in women and lower sperm count in men. BPA has serious health hazard on pregnant women and kids. Some highly priced brands use BPA free plastic in their products such as plastic containers and toys to ensure safety of users. US CDC found BPA traces in 93% urine samples in 2004. This figure is sufficient to show you the impact of plastic and polythene on our lives.


How polythene bags affect the environment ?

• In 2002 Bangladesh became the very first nation to ban polythene bags. It was done to avoid the floods in cities which was caused due to blockage of drainage system by these polythene bags. Blockage of drains is a very small environmental hazard caused by these poly bags. There are much larger extent of damages that these polythene bags have done. 
• Cattle are selective while eating and they often eat plastic bags if there is some food in them. Sometime even a healthy cow may have half of the rumen filled with plastic bags.
• Plastic bags are harmful for animals in the sea. Tortoise eat plastic bags thinking of it as a jelly fish and get themselves killed. Even after a marine animal is killed by a polythene bag, the poly bag remains intact after the animal rots and continues to kill more marine life. In this way a single polythene bag can kill over 100 dolphins.
• As plastic and polythene is not biodegradable and remains in the soil or water for thousands of years, it leaches its harmful chemicals into the soil and underground water. Thus whole soil and underground water gets contaminated.

Some Facts about plastic bags / bottles across the world

• 100,000 animal deaths are caused due to polythene every year and the figure is increasing.
• 500 billion plastic bags are used in a year worldwide.
• 40% of plastic usage in in packaging of products.
• 4 out of 5 bags in India are plastic bags.
• 125 plastic bottles are used in USA per second, while only 5 are processed.
• Only 2.5% plastic bottles in UK are processed.
• 8% of oil produced all around the world is used in manufacturing of polythene bags.
• In 2002 a  United Nations survey found that plastic pollution costs $ 7 Trillion to world's economy every year.

The problem with plastic is that it can't biodegrade. It remains in environment for thousands of years in the form of smaller pieces. It is a health hazard which can't be recycled and causing health problems is more than 250 species around the world including humans. The number 250 is just of the known species which are found ingesting plastic. The actual number can be much more.

Most of people wait for government to ban poly bags, why can't we do it ourselves. Do we need a government to tell us that poly bags are making us sick. Please do it yourselves , #rejectpolybags yourselves and your rejection may inspire others to #rejectpolybags. Trend this hashtag on twitter and show the world that you have rejected the poly bags yourselves and show them that you are not only a good citizen but a good human being.