Short-term symptoms of excessive exposure to styrene can include irritation of the skin, eyes and upper respiratory tract as well as gastrointestinal distress. Record your observations. Styrofoam does not degrade or break down over time. Joseph A. Davis is a freelance writer/editor in Washington, D.C. who has been writing about the environment since 1976. Potential releases of styrene and its precursors during manufacture could also present problems. Consumers who drink beverages from polystyrene cups four times a day for three years will have ingested about one foam cup's worth of styrene along with those beverages. Polystyrene is a petroleum-based plastic made from styrene monomers. Styrofoam Sheets in Tampa on YP.com. It is one of the largest volume commodity plastic, comprising approximately seven percent of the total thermoplastic market1. Polystyrene (also known as EPS Foam or Styrofoam) is a highly popular plastic packaging material which finds wide application in packaging of food items, electronic goods, electrical appliances, furniture etc due to its excellent insulating and protective properties. These expanded cells may then be formed and bonded into useful shapes. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and rather brittle. Polystyrene_Cup -1 points 0 points 1 point 11 months ago I was in a town recently where 3 teens robbed a camper of his rifles on horseback, The kids got caught and got a bashing from the people in town and that was the end of it. Some municipalities, including Portland, Oregon and Orange County, California, have banned polystyrene foam to curb the material’s environmental effects. At home or in the office, swap out polystyrene cups, plates and bowls with ceramic alternatives. That’s the question. This versatility was one of the defining traits of polyethylene. Recycling operations can’t handle the contaminated waste. This month’s Backgrounder gives this long-troubling pollution source a deeper look. Polystyrene (PS) / ˌ p ɒ l i ˈ s t aɪ r iː n / is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer made from the monomer known as styrene. These dense, hard beads are softened by heat and expanded using things like steam and blowing agents, becoming much larger and less dense beads. Plastic drink containers, such as soda bottles, are commonly made of Polyethylene Terephthalate Polyester (PET). The material can also be put into a foamed state. The National Bureau of Standards Center for Fire Research pinpointed nearly 60 chemical byproducts released into the air during the burning of polystyrene foam at landfills and other waste disposal centers. Polystyrene Portion Cups are perfect for dining-in or carryout applications. Polystyrene is made out of the monomer styrene. Hallmarks of acute styrene sickness include headaches, fatigue and feelings of drunkenness. One common estimate is that styrofoam can take up 30 percent of the space in some landfills. And microwaving your styrofoam may be iffy. Will Liquid Retain Its Temperature Better in Glass, Foam or Plastic. One issue is volume. Polystyrene foams such as Styrofoam can help muffle and reduce the presence of any noises from outside the immediate room or environment. There, they may be consumed by fish and other marine and aquatic animals, who easily mistake them for food. Remember that as foam it has been expanded 40-to-80 times its original volume. Styrene toxicity may be much greater for people exposed occupationally or via air pollution. In finished form, EPS has a number of useful properties. Plastic items of many types, whole and fragmented, are found on beaches (Browne et al., 2015), floating on the surfaces of oceans (van Sebille et al., 2015) and lakes (Eriksen et al., 2013), in the deep sea (Woodall et al., 2014), and in a great diversity of wildlife (Gall and Thompson, 2015). Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information. Properties of Glass, Foam and Plastic. Because of the amount of air in its structure, Styrofoam is considered to be unsinkable and capable of maintaining its form. But the word styrofoam is widely used in conversation and media when referring to expanded polystyrene foam — which you may use in that disposable cup or as “peanuts” to pack fragile things for shipping. The resulting polymer could be formed into sheets and rods, or drawn into fibers and films. That’s because many of the things that make styrofoam good for consumers and commerce also make it bad for the environment. This ubiquitous waste material has great insulating properties. Studies indicate that styrene mimics estrogen and can interfere with hormone balances, potentially causing thyroid trouble and menstrual irregularities. SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. A lot of that is just littered around the landscape, and a lot of that ends up in water. Polystyrene homo-polymer, also known commercially as crystal polystyrene, is an amorphous polymer and has the particular properties of high clarity, colourless, hard, but rather brittle with low impact strength. Styrofoam calorimeters are often a couple of coffee cups jammed together. There are many solutions that have been proposed for reducing plastic emissions int… Researchers have linked chronic exposure to even small amounts of the styrene in polystyrene foam to depression and hormonal dysfunction. Its IUPAC name is poly (1-phenylethene-1,2-diyl), and it is an aromatic polymer. 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