techhub.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A hub primarily for passionate technologists, but everyone is welcome

Administered by:

Server stats:

4.9K
active users

#biodegrade

0 posts0 participants0 posts today
Continued thread

"In order for #PVA to #biodegrade, special PVA-adapted microbes need to be added at high levels and for long durations. Currently, most water treatment facilities do not sufficiently treat PVA in water, and therefore poses a series of environmental and safety concerns. "

Also:
"the production of PVA film involves heavy environmental and safety burdens in carcinogenic toxins, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion."

dirtylabs.com/blogs/the-dirt/a

Dirty LabsAsk Dr. Pete: Are laundry pods and sheets really sustainable?At Dirty Labs, we're occasionally asked why we don't create laundry pods or sheets. After all, they're very convenient and seem really sustainable and innovative.So why not? We asked our chief scientist Dr. Pete to weigh-in and deep dive into this issue. In case you are wondering, Dr. Pete is a product inventor, innovator, and sustainability expert, he’s the brains behind our Bio Laundry Detergent and was a founding member of The Sustainability Consortium. Previously in our The Dirt series he’s covered topics on such things like, Hard Water and How it Affects Our Cleaning, What is Green Chemistry, and How to Remove Balsamic Vinegar Stains. Ok so what's the deal with pods and sheets? Unit dose laundry detergents have gained popularity over traditional powder and liquid laundry detergent for several reasons.  First off, unit-dose detergents are very convenient. Just grab a pod or sheet, throw it into the washer, and push start – you’re done. Second, marketers behind unit-dose detergents have been promoting the sustainability advantages of pods and sheets. Some of these claims make sense. For example, the weights of the detergents in unit dose forms are only a fraction of a typical powder or liquid detergent. The reduced dosages mean less transportation and storage requirements, which saves substantial amounts of energy required for the laundry detergent industry. However, pods and sheets pose other consumer safety and environmental concerns that they often do not mention.   Our primary concern is that the film in pods and substrate used in sheets is made of plastic. The chemical that allows laundry pods and sheets to “dissolve” is called polyvinyl alcohol - also known as PVA or PVOH. PVOH is a sythnetic, petroleum-based polymeric plastic that
Replied in thread

(5/n)

"...strong carbon-fluorine bonds. That means such #chemicals are both highly stable and useful in products designed to repel grease and water [#hydrophobic]. But it also means they do not readily #biodegrade..."

Breakthroughs like the one in #Canada are therefore sorely needed because the Forever Chemicals might as well be called "Everywhere Chemicals", too:

"Widely used in consumer products such as #cookware and #clothing, these substances are turning up *everywhere* from..."