The styrofoam ban and health

Prime Minister Gonsalves recently announced a ban on styrofoam products imported into St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). This ban is a welcome initiative, especially for public health officials and environmentalists, who truly understand the impact that styrofoam can have on our fragile environment.

Not only is this ban welcome, but it must be applauded because small island developing states generally are slow in implementing policies or placing restrictions that serve to protect the environment. I am sure that by now food producers have placed excess orders to stock up on their containers ahead of the ban.

Although styrofoam is convenient for the packaging of food, it can be bad for health and the environment. Styrofoam is made from the plastic polystyrene, which is based on building blocks called styrene monomers. When you drink hot tea or coffee from a styrofoam cup or eat hot food out of a styrofoam container, you also take in small doses of chemicals that leach from it and into your food. Microwaving styrofoam also causes the release of these toxic chemicals, which poses a threat to human health. These chemicals are reasonably anticipated to be carcinogenic. That is, they contribute to cancer. In my article two weeks ago, I addressed the issue of cancer as the leading cause of mortality in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Styrofoam is not usually recycled, due to its lightweight nature and the high economic cost of transporting and degreasing the petroleum-based material. Therefore, used styrofoam is dumped into landfills and takes at least 500 years to decompose.

Styrofoam is the primary source of urban litter. When you walk through Kingstown, you can see styrofoam dumped into gutters and drains. Because they cannot decompose, they can block the drains and cause flooding. styrofoam is the main pollutant of oceans, bays, and other water sources and causes choking and starvation in wildlife, including fishes and turtles.

The incineration of styrofoam products releases toxic ash in the air. Humans breathe in the toxins and can experience a host of health problems, including asthma and bronchitis.

The impact of styrofoam on health and the environment ranges from its production to even its disposal. The ban is a forward move in reducing its use and protecting the environment. Retailers should start to offer biodegradable products, such as paper to-go containers.

Dr Rosmond Adams, MD is a medical doctor and a public health specialist with training in bioethics and ethical issues in medicine, the life sciences and research. He is the head of Health Information, Communicable Disease and Emergency Response at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

He is also a member of the World Health Organization Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of NCDs.

(The views expressed here are not written on behalf of CARPHA nor the WHO)

Dr Rosmond Adams is a medical doctor and a public health specialist. He may be emailed at: adamsrosmond@gmail.com