Environmental impact of Mardi Gras beads
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When the parade season ended in 2014, the New Orleans city government spent $1.5 million to pick up about 1,500 tons of Mardi Gras-induced waste, consisting mostly of beads.[1] This is a recurring problem every year for the city. In addition, the city must also deal with the environmental repercussions endured after Mardi Gras. Because they are not biodegradable[citation needed] and contain high amounts of heavy metals,[2] Mardi Gras beads put the local environment and health of southern Louisianians at risk.
Polyethylene and polystyrene are popular plastics used in beads.[3] Polystyrene is very stable and can last for many decades as the beads lay in landfills. Eventually, it will begin to slowly oxidize via UV light from the sun. In contrast, polyethylene cannot decompose with UV radiation and biodegrades extremely slowly.[citation needed]
Lead, cadmium, and other elements have been detected in beads in extremely high amounts through various analytical techniques.[2] Many of these elements exceed the suggested safety limits set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.[4] For example, the safe amount of lead in a product is 100 ppm; however, there have been findings where the amount of lead in a bead surpassed the limit 300 times over.[2] This threatens parade-goers with exposure to high amounts of lead, especially younger children that could potentially put the beads in their mouths.[5]
History
Plastic beads became popular in the 1960s,[6] and were not always a part of Mardi Gras; they were introduced only in the late 1970s.[7] The ritual of throwing Mardi Gras beads dates back to the nineteenth century, particularly the 1970s, in New Orleans. Beads used to be manufactured of glass, and many of them were imported from Czechoslovakia.[8] The delicate glass beads were then replaced with the brightly colored and inexpensive plastic beads.
Entry into the environment
Beads can accidentally enter storm drains, which empty into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico.[9] The metals in the beads put fish and other marine lifeforms at risk for lead and cadmium poisoning. Exposure to these metals in water causes high mortality rates and increased biomass of these metals among fish species within a month of exposure.[10] Seafood is prevalent in the south Louisiana diet, most of which is harvested from the Gulf. Eating seafood contaminated with lead and cadmium puts people at risk for poisoning.
Beads also can get tangled in trees during parades.[11] Here, the lead in the beads can get washed off via rain water and find its way into leaves and soil. Lead has been shown to be an inhibitor of cell division, water uptake, and photosynthesis,[12] eventually causing death to the plant.
