Burning Plastic

One of many jobs I've had was working for a plastics company that shall remain nameless. Companies would send us drawings and specs on a part that they needed for a new design of some type. The specific type of plastic they specified was for a car part that needed to be highly impact resistant. It would be used as part of the engine assembly. Unfortunately, as a side effect, the vapors literally paralyze your ability to breathe when exposed to flame. We saved untold lives that day.

bigred1cav wrote:
why would you consider addressing the issue yourself? Make a report to park officials. With all the nuts carrying guns and looking for confrontation why would you risk leaving your wife as a widow to ask/tell a dumbass to not burn plastic?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

It's either a bad joke or a really silly thing to say, maybe trolling for a "I hate guns" flame?

I chose to think well of my fellow man and figured we should all laugh WITH you. Oh, my sides hurt :D

why would you consider addressing the issue yourself? Make a report to park officials. With all the nuts carrying guns and looking for confrontation why would you risk leaving your wife as a widow to ask/tell a dumbass to not burn plastic?

bosworthj wrote:
The scenario is people on the site behind us are throwing everything in their fire including empty plastic water bottles. Do you address the issue with them directly or inform DNR/park ranger to let them handle it?

Thanks!

We were at a State Park in CA and started smelling burning plastic. No phone service and the Ranger was a mile away. Easy solution was to close the windows run the generator and turn on the AC. Problem solved for me. Did not help the tent campers next to the culprit.

rk911 wrote:
sign or not I would inform the ranger.

Agreed. I can't see any jurisdiction where burning of plastic is not prohibited, and if there is one I would not want to live there.

In our little town it was common for some to burn their trash even though we had commercial pick up services and containers where you could take your trash.
It made your eyes water and burned your throat. Plastic milk jugs and cartons and everything else. Nearest neighbor who did this was half mile away but it still got to us.
Out in the country, when I was young at Grand Ma's very few burned garbage. If they did there were no plastics, to amount to anything.

You forgot glass bottles.:)

The DIRTY diapers are the worst!!!

Please,Please don't do it.

We've campground hosted and one of our duties was cleaning out the firepits when the camper left. You would not believe what folks throw in thinking it will burn. They are just too lazy and inconsiderate to others to dispose of things properly. Cans, cigarette butts, egg shells, leftover food, plastic, diapers, Styrofoam do not burn down or else have a toxic burn.

Would you like to be the next person using that garbage dump for roasting your hot dogs? Please don't do it.

When plastics burn, they emit phosgene gas, since phosgene is one of the chemicals used to make plastics. Phosgene gas is nerve gas used in chemical warfare since WWI. It is only slightly less toxic than the another well known nerve agent Sarin. The gas will permanently harm or kill you by inhaling it. And like any nerve agent, it can be easily absorbed thru the skin. Interesting fact: When you hear about deaths in a fire attributed to "smoke inhalation", it's usually not the smoke that kills, but all the plastics burning in the house.

I'll have to admit my memory isn't what it used to be.

"Pollutants from burn barrels vary depending on the type of waste materials burned but, typically, emissions include dioxins, ash, furans, halogenated hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, lead, barium, chromium, cadmium, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, arsenic or mercury. Burn barrels also often emit acid vapors and carcinogenic tars.

Pound for pound, garbage burned in a burn barrel gives off twice as many furans, 17 times as much dioxin, and 40 times as much ash as a municipal incinerator. For example, a 1997 EPA study showed that as few a two households burning garbage produce as much dioxin as a 200 ton/day municipal incinerator operating with air pollution controls. Also, municipal incinerators operate at 2,200 degrees F to insure complete combustion, and they use efficient filters to reduce harmful emissions.

Burn barrels emit more pollutants because they operate at relatively low temperatures (400-500 degrees F), resulting in incomplete combustion of the wastes being burned. They also are less efficient at combustion and emissions are concentrated close to the ground, thus creating a greater risk of direct exposure to harmful pollutants. The closer you stand to the burn barrel, the more of these harmful chemicals you may inhale.

Residual ash is another result of incomplete combustion. Frequently, a significant portion of material in the barrel - especially at the bottom - is not burned up. Ash disposal outside of a sanitary landfill can cause problems.

Also, ash particulates can irritate the eyes and throat and can restrict visibility. In addition, ash can damage the lungs, cause bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer, and can seriously affect people with asthma or certain allergies. Ash also contains heavy metals that may seep into groundwater." Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website