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How Sustainable is Your Toothbrush?

by Poojitha Shekar on Sep 17 2020 4:31 PM

Sustainability of various models of toothbrushes were examined to find out which is best for human health and it was found that electric toothbrushes are hazardous for planetary health and continuously recycled plastic toothbrushes are the ideal ones.

How Sustainable is Your Toothbrush?
Sustainability of different models of the most commonly used oral health product - the toothbrush - to ascertain which is best for the planet and associated human health have been examined by researchers at Trinity College Dublin.
A //Research study, in collaboration with Eastman Dental Institute at University College London, is published in the British Dental Journal. It represents a life-cycle assessment (LCA) that has been used to measure environmental consequences of a healthcare product.

Healthcare is regarded as one of the major projectors of environmental pollutants that have adverse effects on health. However, awareness of these health effects remains low both in the industry and in the general consumer population.

There are very little proofs currently regarding the sustainability of specific healthcare interventions, services or devices.

Different manufacturing models of the tooth brush were considered and the environmental impact (carbon footprint) and human health impact (DALYS) of the toothbrush were measured by the researchers.

The electric toothbrush, the standard plastic brush, the plastic brush with replaceable head, and the bamboo brush were used. The team found that the electric toothbrush was comparatively harmful for planetary health.

The electric toothbrush causes 10 hours of disability measured in Disability-Adjusted Life years or DALYS specially, for the people associated with the process of making and producing the devices. This is five times higher than a normal plastic brush.

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It was found that the most environmentally sustainable toothbrush was not bamboo but a hypothetical continuously recycled plastic toothbrush.

There are billions of toothbrushes used and discarded every year. Our research shows that electric toothbrushes are actually harmful for the planet and to the people involved in the manufacturing process and distribution.

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There is not a lot of evidence to show they are more effective unless you struggle to clean your teeth with a normal toothbrush. We have also shown bamboo toothbrushes are not the answer.

Using them just stops land from being put to better use such as helping biodiversity, or in growing forests to offset carbon emissions.

The ideal toothbrush is one which uses plastic which is recycled in a continuous process. Plastic brushes which can be recycled don't take up a lot of land and they don't need lots of water to grow. The important thing here is to keep the plastic in the recycling chain.

We need a system where plastic toothbrushes can be collected like batteries and then recycled into new products. If the plastic escapes the recycling chain, it needs to be able to be easily and naturally broken down into harmless products.

Government and industry should consider how they could support recycling programmes. More funding is also required to support sustainability research in this area.



Source-Medindia


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