60 percent of the waste generated in Bangladesh is burned near homes, producing smoke, carbon monoxide, mercury, hydrochloric acid and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Due to this the air of Dhaka becomes poisonous.
The study examined air samples in Dhaka, the coastal district of Bhola, Lalitpur, Lumbini and Kathmandu in Nepal, Houston, Atlanta and Georgia in the US. Poisonous gas was found by burning the maximum amount of plastic in Dhaka city.
When asked about the matter, MD Atiqur Rahman, Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), said that if any plastic particle enters the body through breathing, it first enters the lungs and then spreads in the blood.
It causes various diseases related to lungs, blood pressure and other diseases where medicine does not work. As a result, steps have to be taken so that plastic waste does not spread in nature, he said.
* This report originally published in Prothom Allo Print Edition has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.