Where do you go when the burning rubbish dump near you emits the smell of burning plastic and you know it is toxic? Close the windows perhaps and wait till the wind has blown it away or just get used to it? It is very easy to put household waste into that cheap or free plastic bag you got with your vegetables or fish. But if you really did realize how poisonous burning plastic is, then perhaps you would never allow it to be burnt and you would use it and dispose it wisely. There is a whole cocktail of poisons that burning plastics emit and that typical smell indicates you are inhaling them. Headaches, colds and coughs, doctors and medical bills are the real price we pay for these cheap throwaways. Burning plastics emit the corrosive hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon monoxide and dioxide (CO and CO2), carcinogenic, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs), particulates, and perhaps the most deadly of them all, Dioxins. Short term exposure to hydrogen chloride can cause eye, nose and respiratory tract irritation and inflammation. Prolonged exposure causes dental discoloration and erosion, gastritis, chronic bronchitis and dermatitis. Carbon dioxide is present in air at a concentration of about 0.03% but too much of it can cause headache and lethargy, followed by breathlessness, sweating, visual impairment and tremor. Incineration of the refuse inside the plastic bag produces sulphur dioxide which causes respiratory irritation, runny nose and cough. Long term exposure leads to chronic bronchitis, lung damage and altered sense of smell. PAHs, byproducts of plastic burning can be absorbed into the skin and can contaminate water and soil. General effects of exposure include respiratory, skin and eye irritation, nausea and headache. In the long term, PAH exposure causes central and peripheral nervous system damage and cancer. Particulates are minute particles of a whole range of toxic substances that are a by product of incineration, not just of plastics but of anything. These particles are light enough to be carried in the air and are easily inhaled. Once in the lungs, they stick there, causing a whole range of respiratory problems. Did you notice the haze some days back? Dr Nandkumar Kamat who helped me with inputs for this article says haze is due to settling down of particulate matter in the atmosphere caused by the 10 degree difference between daily maximum and minimum temperatures. This he says, has been caused by indiscriminate burning of solid and agro waste, garden refuse, plastic and other stuff that goes to cause aerosol, or haze. Delhi's smog can be a carcinogenic cocktail, but we are certainly catching up! What about Dioxins? PVC burning releases dioxins the most toxic of which is tetrachloro-p-dibenzodioxin (TCDD, often called dioxin) which elicits a diverse spectrum of cancer and noncancer effects. The non cancer effects are more serious as research has shown that even in infinitesimal body burdens (parts per trillion) these poisons lie in wait in body tissues "threatening children with a diminished humanity before their conception even occurs. Dioxins are implicated in birth defects, impaired neurological development, immune suppression leading to increased susceptibility to infectious disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other effects.' Reproductive dysfunction in both men and women have been noticed including decreased fertility, inability to maintain pregnancy, reduced sperm count, testicular atrophy, reduced testosterone levels, changes in sexual behavior and fewer male babies. The quick-fix to this problem is to this is to get your local authority to stop incinerating waste, but you can help by disposing waste in paper bags which disintegrate faster. Ask for plastics only bins in your locality to dispose plastic items. Long term solutions are segregation of waste, composting of wet waste in small localized composting units and recycling of other wastes.