Ecopetrol has announced the delivery of one hundred recycled plastic houses to vulnerable families in the Colombian Caribbean. In a previous column, apparently not read by any official of the aforementioned company, nor by the authorities, it warned about the risk to human health represented by living in residences with this material. Recycled plastic houses a high concentration of additives with countless harmful effects on human health, among them, bisphenol A (BPA) and related molecules, phthalates and flame retardants, have recognized toxicity, even in utero.
According to scientific reports, even substances released from plastics present in everyday objects, accumulated in household dust, have been associated with harmful effects, including the induction of tumors, breast and prostate cancer, precocious puberty, problems thyroid, polycystic ovary, obesity, diabetes, and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, among others. Therefore, the “benefited” families, intrinsically vulnerable, should not expose their health living in recycled plastic boxes. This material could be used in open spaces such as docks, parks or pedestrian walkways, but experimenting with using it in homes is a reprehensible act.
It is inconceivable that the state oil company, even without explaining to the country the cost overruns of more than four billion dollars in the construction of Reficar, and with investments announced for 2021 for a similar figure, cannot get at least three million dollars to acquire one hundred normal homes to donate to families who have lost everything, instead of subjecting them to chronic toxic exposures, widely documented in the literature for plasticizer diversity.
The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has stated that it has no jurisdiction in the matter, but is interested in knowing the technical and scientific information related to the materials used in the houses. However, Ecopetrol must have an environmental health department, and given the risks associated with the substances they process, the personnel in charge will be well trained. Please gentlemen, make an effort to be heard and do not allow such an outrage. I urge the health and environmental authorities, Dadis, Cardique, EPA, the Environmental Attorney’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office, to pay attention to this public and environmental health problem, stopping this disastrous initiative by Ecopetrol, and ordering it to hand over decent houses, in conjunction with its social responsibility to generate development and well-being for Colombians.
*Teacher.
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