Effects
Affect the environment
Polystyrene containing materials such as styrene and
benzene. These materials are very harmful to the environment because it takes
about 500 years to be eliminated naturally. In fact, according to a study
conducted by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (PEER) in 1992
has found that polystyrene made from hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC-22) has the
potential to harm the environment as much as three to five times higher than
that of waste materials other.
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The cause of cancerStyrene also contain carcinogens that can cause
harm to human health. According to the study International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified styrene as
a group 2B carcinogen which is a cancer causing to humans. Chemicals than
polystyrene containers will absorb into the food and then into the human body.
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Genetic changes
Styrene is a mutagen that can cause potentially damaging genetic alterations of the reproductive system. Mutagen is not only extremely dangerous for the environment, but also to human health. For example, continuous exposure to styrene can lower the number of red blood cells in the human body and cause a woman to experience some problems during menstruation .