Polythene or Polyethylene..........!!!

Hi Folks,

In continuation to my previous mail, I would like to share my views about POLYTHENE.

Polyethylene or polythene (IUPAC name poly(ethene)) is a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products (notably the plastic shopping bag ). Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year.
It's a polymer consisting of long chains of the monomer ethylene (IUPAC name ethene ). The recommended scientific name polyethene is systematically derived from the scientific name of the monomer.In certain circumstances it is useful to use a structure–based nomenclature. In such cases IUPAC recommends poly(methylene).The difference is due to the opening up of the monomer's double bond upon polymerisation.
It came into the market for commercial use in 1982 and a competition between polythene, jute and paper bags ensued, soon taken over by the former. It became popular commercially more than the other bags due to its low price and portability. When people started to use and dispose polythene randomly, and with no effective disposal system, the environmental consequences led to worsening the situation. Next, in course of time, when the situation became unbearable, the necessity arose for social movement to control it. Considering the rapid environmental degradation due to polythene, the NGOs and civil societies including teachers and students of schools, universities organized workshops, seminars, campaigns, human chain and rallies against the use of polythene bags. Finally, the government of India declared ban on production, distribution and marketing of polythene shopping bags from January 1, 2002 in Delhi. The ban was enforced in other metropolitan cities from March of the same year. On April 3, a complete ban on all types of polythene shopping bags became a permanent amendment to the Indian Environment Conservation Law 1995.
Alarming Consequences of using Plastic bags :
Water pollution and clogging: During monsoon, following heavy rainfall, many roads and lanes submerged under water for weeks or more, due to blockage of the sewerage and drains by substances including polythene. 80% of blocked drains in Dhaka were blocked because of polythene. In a country prone to severe flooding, the blocking of drains by polythene bags severely exacerbated the problem.
More than 80 diseases can be caused by water borne germs and these germs were provided with a suitable breeding ground when polythene bags clogged up the drains. Blocked drains forced sewer water into drinking water supplies during the floods turning the water virtually poisonous.
Since polythene is non-degradable it blocked the rainwater seeping into the soil so that ground water could not be recharged. Burying polythene bags in mountainous regions loosened the grip on vegetation and soil binding, causing landslides. It made soil unsuitable for construction.
When dumped in soil, polythene did not allow emission of the toxic gases and pollutants from the earth. Polythene destroyed bacteria in the soil causing loss of soil fertility and the capacity of soil to yield agricultural produces diminished.
Burning polythene bags was dangerous as it released dioxin and hydrogen cyanide, the most carcinogenic and toxic substances. Inhalation of the poisonous gas caused severe and chronic health problem. These gases also polluted the air.
Experts say that polythene bags and other plastic materials, if burnt below 7,000 degrees Celsius, create a dioxin like poisonous gas, which can cause cancer and skin diseases.
The problems that emerge after the ban polythene are mainly due to the failure of jute to become substitutes, answer for the substitute of polythene bags could be the "New Bio-degradable Plastic Bag", which was first introduced in England. Though its production cost is 15-20% higher than the polythene shopping bag, it is still a good substitute. Paper bags can also be used as a substitute for polythene bags even though they have a disadvantage of tearing fast or easily unlike the polybags.
The wide use of polyethylene makes it an important environmental issue. Though it can be recycled, most of the commercial polyethylene ends up in landfills and in the oceans (notably the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Polyethylene is not considered biodegradable, as it takes several centuries until it is efficiently degraded. Recently (May 2008) Daniel Burd, a 16 year old Canadian, won the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa after discovering that Sphingomonas, a type of bacteria, can degrade over 40% of the weight of plastic bags in less than three months. The applicability of this finding is still a matter for the future.

Let all of us take a Vow that we’ll abstain from using Polythene bags and Furthermore,educate people about the hazardous consequences of the same.