7.5 Environmental Hazards

There is a two-way relationship between plastic materials and the environment. The first one, which is well studied, is known as weathering: that means the effect of the environmental factors on plastics that leads to their ageing during outdoor exposure. The second one deals with the effects of plastics and their additives on the environment [69, 74, 201, 202].

The effect of plastics on the environment is manifested outdoor and indoor. The most important outdoor effects come from: plastics industry emissions, the ozone depletion produced by halogenated additives in plastics and other products, potential production of dioxins and furans on the incineration of PVC in mixed municipal solid waste streams, and from disposed of end-of-life plastic products in sanitary landfills [203].

The indoor environment polluted by emissions from organic polymeric building materials such as plastics, paints, adhesives, wall covering, etc., have a strong impact on the indoor air quality (IAQ) and from it on people s comfort and health. IAQ is an important determinant of population health and well being but in spite of this, its control is often inadequate. Presently, few of the hundred known IAQ pollutants have been addressed directly by guidelines. From the draft of World Health Organisation (WHO) statements it follows that national and international organisations have an obligation to establish criteria for acceptable IAQ [204]. Allergies, other hyperactive reactions, sick building syndrome (SBS), airway infections, lung cancer, etc., are associated with IAQ in buildings [205]. The term SBS...