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Plastic waste is one of the scourges of the modern world, being generated via every industry from electronics to packaging and vehicles. Once discarded, plastic chokes our landfills and oceans for centuries, and when one considers that humans produce almost 300 million tons of plastic each year, the extent of the problem becomes all too clear.

A new discovery made by researchers at North Dakota State University, Fargo, could help to solve this serious environmental issue, however, as they believe they have paved the way for the creation of a new type of plastic that can be broken down into molecules when exposed to a specific type of light. What is even better news is that once the plastic has broken down, it can be recycled to form new plastic products.
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A new plastic material, inspired by the clotting action of human blood, has been created by engineers at the University of Illinois.

The plastic contains a network of "capillaries" that mimic the action of blood vessels in the human body, delivering chemicals to "heal" and repair damaged plastic "tissue."

The designers of the new polymer envisage that it could be utilised to restore cracked phone screens or electronic chips in laptops, but the possibilities could be applied to an unlimited array of plastic items. Water pipes, sports equipment, homewares and appliances, car parts, even satellites could repair themselves in space.
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Men’s fertility could be threatened by chemicals in our environment–especially estrogenic plastics. Scientists examining dead otters in the UK for the last 20 years have noticed a decrease in penis bone weight (but not length).

Despite the slang term "boner," human males don’t have a penis bone, but many other primates do, including gorillas and chimpanzees, and all male rodents have one.

However, human males are still at risk for the same sort of distortion due to the hormone disrupting chemicals called EDCs, which are found in plastic bottles, metal food cans that are lined with plastic, detergents, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides.
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Working with plastic parts containing BPA–in auto industries, for instance–may make women more vulnerable to breast cancer. Women in Toronto’s plastic automotive parts factories have complained about pungent fumes and dust that caused nosebleeds, headaches, nausea and dizziness.

In the November 19th edition of the Toronto Star, Jim Morris, Jennifer Quinn, Robert Cribb and Julian Sher quotes auto plant worker Gina DeSantis as saying, "People were getting sick, but you never really thought about the plastic itself." She has worked there for 30 years.
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