Environmental Impact - Plastic

I don't think anyone has tried to answer this yet, so I'll try to take a stab at it. Disclaimer: I haven't really researched any of this, just going off of my science/biology knowledge.

As I understand it, the main health concern from sanding the dolls isn't that the dust is toxic (I'm sure there are probably some volatile chemicals such as plasticizers that are released though they are probably rapidly dispersed). The big concern with the dust is that it will lodge in the lungs and not be eliminated because it is so inert. I imagine prolonged exposure could result in something similar to silicosis which is seen from inhaling clay dust or dust from cutting stone.

I don't believe that small amounts of resin dust ending up on plants would have any measurable effect on them at all. I think resin dust ending up in seas and lakes is a more interesting question. Presuming it was washed down a drain, most of it would probably be settled out during water treatment and then disposed of along with the rest of the sludge. I think any resin making it's way into the ocean would either sink to the floor of the ocean or that dust remaining in suspension in the water would be greatly diluted. It could presumably be taken up by small marine organisms, but I think the number of organisms that would be exposed to a sufficiently large dose to cause them problems would be negligible. In other words, I suppose it is possible that some could be harmed by this, but highly unlikely that there would be enough of those individuals to result in any major ecological impact.

On the other hand, I wonder if large pieces of resin could actually be used as scaffolds for reef growth? There are projects using various artificial scaffolds that coral polyps can attach to to jump-start coral reef growth in areas where they have been destroyed. I suspect that this is rather a moot point since resin is to expensive to be used for this, and there are cheaper substitutes available.

I don't think this is something you probable need to worry too much about As others have said, manufacturing resin, shipping, and packaging probably have the biggest environmental impact.

 

I'm with skerwlie. However, I do try to reuse as much resin as possible. I was at Catrina's casting workshop earlier this year. I made a point of collecting all the hardened resin drips I could from the mold casts (I'm not allergic, so it didn't itch me to handle them when freshly cured) and I'm going to turn them into a jewelry piece. I think the more that can be similarly reused, the better!
i have them all in a jar right now in my work bag, ready to be made into something
i'm kinda like that about everything - always wanting to make something out of nontraditional materials and being a bit of a pack rat.