Today was day 6, and we have officially moved to Rotterdam! This morning, we had breakfast in Amsterdam for the last time before getting on a bus at 9:00 am and driving to Nouryon. Nouryon is a chemical manufacturing site that specializes in creating organic peroxides and metal alkyls to be used to create polymers by other companies. This work can be seen in almost any product that uses polymers such as plastics, synthetic rubbers, shampoos as well as the shampoo bottles, and many others.
Chemical manufacturing can be extremely dangerous, and Nouryon prides itself in the safety of working with these chemicals. They have an extremely in-depth and specific classification system for chemicals, known as risk assessment. It must be noted that risk is separate from hazard. This is something they emphasized greatly when presenting to us. A dangerous chemical is a hazard, but it will only become a risk once exposed to a person. Therefore, dangerous chemicals can be used if exposure is limited or completely eliminated. This not only keeps employees safe, but also consumers safe, as dangerous chemicals will be sure to not end up in products. It is an interesting outlook for chemicals, as dangerous chemicals can still be used while staying safe. This safety system is extremely sustainable for the company. It helps ensure that the company will remain running, as these safety measures will prevent disastrous explosions or contaminations.
Additionally, this company also has specific measures to keep the company environmentally sustainable. One of these measures is determining if a chemical is biodegradable using their biodegradation lab. In this lab, they used bacteria to determine if the chemical can be naturally broken down, and how long this process would take. These are very simple experiments in which they place bacteria in the chemical, wait two months, and see how much that chemical has been consumed. This is extremely important as these chemicals will eventually find their way into products, and those products will eventually become waste. This waste must be biodegradable so as to not contribute to the growing pollution of the planet.
Another part of the biodegradation lab was using larger organisms than bacteria, such as daphnia, fish embryos or worms, to determine the toxicity of the chemical. This is also important as toxic chemicals are dangerous to consumers and to the environment. While determining toxicity is important, I disliked how animals, even small ones, had to be experimented on. Typically, they are placed in the chemicals, and changes over time are observed. It is not uncommon for them to die from these experiments. I understand sustainability is important, but I believe that it is not sustainable to test on living organisms. They deserve to be in the wild, and not in the lab. Better testing should be developed to truly make every aspect of the production process sustainable.
After Nouryon, we boarded the bus and took a 2 and half hour trip to Rotterdam! Once we got to the hotel and settled down, me and a few friends went out to eat dinner at an Indian restaurant in this new city. I tried a new dessert called gulab jamun and it was very delicious! We then headed back to the hotel to rest and prepare for another exciting day tomorrow!
