The Effectiveness and Acceptability of Oyster Shell Wastes

as Raw Material in Making Chalk

Solasco, Dezerie Mae A.

11-STEM

According to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, nearly all people
throughout the world are highly dependent on natural resources found in the sea
particularly for food supply and livelihood. The international ocean-based economy is
estimated at between 3 to 6 trillion USD per year. In many countries, fisheries and
aquaculture have a deeper cultural significance for they have always been important
ingredients of people’s diet and are not easily substituted.

The Philippine archipelago is composed of approximately 7,109 islands and

coastlines of about 36, 300 kilometers. Our vast marine resources range into millions of
hectares of coastal and oceanic waters as well as inland waters which make the country a
treasure trove of aquatic resources. This abundance in marine organisms put the country as
one of the world’s top ten marine fisheries producers. As such, the country is also listed as
the world’s eleventh biggest producer of cultured seafood. Due to these, the fisheries’
sector becomes vital to the economy of the country because it does not only contribute to
food, nutrition security, and export earnings but it also provides substantial livelihood and
income for people who live in the coastal communities of the country (Seafood Trading
Intelligence Portal, 2018).

Oyster or usually known as Talaba (Crassostrea iredalei) is a common name for

bivalve mollusks which thrive in marine or salty habitats and have a rough, irregularly
shaped shell. It is a popular shellfish delicacy, often made into special dishes in hotels and
restaurants because of its excellent flavor and taste (Piccio, 2013). It is also notable for its
rich nutrients and mineral content which results in a lot of exceptional health benefits.
Oysters can help increase our metabolic activities, strengthen and boost our immune
system, reduce blood pressure, lower one's cholesterol level, aid in weight loss, help
quicken wound healing, and it also promotes healthy growth of our body. It is produced
both from wild stocks and aquaculture. It is mostly marketed in the shell as freshly-shucked
meat. Some salted oyster or bagoong are made during peak harvest season (Straughton,
2019).

Oyster is abundant in tropical countries especially in the Philippines since we have

lots of coastlines that are rich in natural resources. In fact, the oyster is one of the major
marine products especially in local seaside areas of our country. It ranked fourth in top
aquaculture produced in the Philippines. Region 6 is touted as the biggest producer of
oyster particularly in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Negros Occidental (The Fish Site,
2009). According to Fisheries Statistics of the Philippines, the volume of the production of
oyster in the country has been estimated up to 23 000 metric tons annually which makes the
Philippine oyster production as top 8 in the world. Considering that oysters have huge
commercial importance and are always in demand, wild stocks are not sufficient. In order
to serve the increasing demand, oyster farming has become a solution. In the Philippines,
oyster culture farms extend from 1,500 square meters to half a hectare. These are usually
found in the coasts of Cavite, Bulacan, La Union, Bataan, Cagayan, Negros, and Iloilo
(EntrePinoys, 2016).

Massive cultivation and harvesting of oysters also mean a large amount of oyster
shells to be disposed of. Considering that the shells of oysters represent more than 70% of
their total weight, the estimated annual volume of production can generate about 16 000
metric tons of oyster shells waste per year. Although some of these shell waste have been
utilized as low-value products such as feed and material for desulfurization, most of the
discarded shells are considered as “nuisance waste”. In general, a significant amount of
oyster shells from households, local restaurants and markets are often discarded and
considered useless with no further value once the flesh is stripped off. The discarded oyster
shell wastes usually wind up thrown into landfills, abandoned on land, piled up on the
seashore or returned to coastal waters as fishery waste materials (Liang & Wang, 2013).

The careless disposal of this tremendous amount of shell wastes contributes to the
deterioration of the local environment as it affects the soil, water, and air quality, and can
also cause public health problems. There are large amounts of oyster shell heaped near the
seaside and coastal areas which make the seashores look grimy and create various problems
such as the emission of offensive odors as a consequence of the decomposition of organics
or fresh remnants attached to the shells and soil pollution from heavy metals that are
contained in the viscera. When the oyster shell wastes are deposited back in the sea, it
causes grounding and infects the marine population. In addition, disposal of these shell
wastes into open landfills can also evoke negative impacts to public health and sanitation
because shell wastes residue can attract insects and fungi on open dumpsites which can
cause microbial decomposition over time. Discarded oyster shells can serve as settings for
the reproduction of flies, mosquito and other harmful organisms that are carriers of disease-
causing bacteria and viruses. Furthermore, it can lead to the development of very toxic
gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. It can also cause many environmental
problems including pollution of coastal fisheries, management problem of public water
surface, and damages of the natural landscape which discourages the local and foreign
tourists to visit tourist spots like beaches (Hwang, et. al, 2014).On the account of these
alarming environmental issues with regard to the inappropriate dumping of discarded shell
wastes, special attention should be dedicated to the proper disposal or recycling of the
oyster shells. The ideal solution to these concerns would be to modify the oyster shell
wastes to a product that is beneficial to the people, favorable to the surroundings and should
be economically feasible.

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is an exceptional mineral. According to Industrial

Minerals Association – Europe, this compound covers a raw material, which is very
common and widespread throughout nature, whether dissolved in rivers and oceans, in
molten form as cold carbonatite-lava or solid as a mineral in the form of stalactites,
stalagmites or as the major constituent of whole mountain ranges. Both plants and animals
need calcium carbonate to form the structure of their skeletons and shells. Moreover,
calcium carbonate is the most abundant chemical sediment in modern and most ancient
oceans, making up roughly 10% of sediments. Nearly all the CaCO3 that makes up
carbonate platforms is derived from marine organisms such as bivalves, mollusks, and
corals. CaCO3 is also an important component in biological systems, especially in shells of
marine organisms, pearls, egg shells, limestone, and marble.

A remarkable amount of products we use in our daily lives either contains calcium
carbonate or has some association with the compound during its production. Calcium
carbonate is the most widely used filler material in paper, paint, plastic, and food, ceramic,
cosmetic, medicine, and other industries. It is an active component in agricultural lime and
is frequently the primary cause of hard water. It is often used pharmaceutically as a calcium
supplement or as an antacid. In fact, when considering our lives, modern mankind could
hardly imagine existing without calcium carbonate (Qinna et. al, 2016).

Some shellfish have enjoyed recent recognition as a source of dietary calcium, but
are also a practical industrial source. In particular, the oyster shell is a bountiful source of
calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Approximately 80 to 95 percent of its shell is primarily
composed of this compound which gives the oyster shells a high potential to be used as a
raw material for numerous products in various sectors such as construction materials,
polymer filler, pharmaceutics, animal feed, plastic production, and others (Hamester et. al,
2012).

The oyster shell wastes have been investigated as a potential substitute component
for construction-related utilization such as an alternative for aggregates in building
materials or cement clinker, due to its characteristics that simulates limestone which is
related to cement raw materials. The authors intensively studied and modified this potential
of shell wastes to replace the aggregates used in manufacturing cement by grinding down
the oyster shells and mixing with sand. Another interesting construction application for
oyster shell wastes is the production of concrete blocks for paving and the creation of
oyster-shell foamed bricks (OSFBS) to neutralize the acidity of recycled rainwater
(Hamester et. al, 2012). Another possibility for reuse of these shells is to use them as an
alternative liming material to restore soil chemical and microbial properties in upland soil
and to increase crop productivity. Since oyster shells have anti-fungal activities, it can also
be used as agriculture fungicide, by affecting the membrane permeability of the fungus.
Furthermore, oyster shells are also being utilized as new recycling material for removing
phosphorus from water and air. There are also several forms of utilization of oyster shell
wastes as an alternative for chicken feed, production plastic material for fire flame control,
and potential medical applications such as food supplement for calcium replacement in the
body (Silva et. al, 2019).
 The reuse and recycling of oyster shell wastes for by-products production inhibit the
contamination of the environment and represents an ecologically sustainable solution in
finding value to these discarded marine wastes. These newly developed alternative
recycling methods and value-added uses for discarded shell wastes are noteworthy and
useful but the majority of the research procedures of these recycling methods take an
excessive amount of time to finish and several processes are too intricate and complex. In
addition, some of the methods also needed high-tech and expensive equipment to perform
their processes. As a consequence, these methods are not enough to diminish the quantity of
discarded shell wastes especially on local seaside areas where there are an extensive
production and consumption of shell products daily. In this case, we need to exert more
effort to find a simple and easy way to reuse the discarded oyster shells to lessen the
accumulation of these wastes, especially in local settings. Thus, the researchers come up
with an idea to use the oyster shells as the main ingredient in making chalk to help in the
disposal and recycling of discarded oyster shell wastes.

Chalk comes in thin, tube-like sticks approximately 0.35 of an inch (nine

millimeters) in diameter and 3.15 inches (80 millimeters) long and is a very common
teaching material used in school classrooms for writing and drawing on blackboards. It is
primarily made of calcium carbonate typically bound with kaolin clay, oleic acid, and
sodium hydroxide. Chalk did not become standard in schoolrooms until the nineteenth
century when class sizes began to increase and teachers needed a convenient way of
conveying information to many students at one time. Although today’s generation is greatly
influenced by technology with the use of projectors, audio-visual aids, and whiteboards,
classroom teaching with boards and chalk still dominates many parts of the world. Most of
the teachers in school especially the public ones, still present their lessons to the entire
classes on chalk-boards using sticks of chalk because this method of teaching has proven to
be cheap and easy (Made How, 2019).

The researchers chose to utilize oyster shell wastes as a raw material in making
chalk because of the fact that calcium carbonate, which is the principal component of oyster
shell, is also a fundamental component used to produce commercial chalk. So, this means
that there is a high potential for the oyster shell wastes to be made into chalk since they
have the same compound as their major component. Through this study, the researchers can
help decrease the accumulation of discarded oyster shell wastes especially in local settings
like coastal towns. It can reduce the negative implications of the shell waste to the
environment and as well as to the public. It can lessen coastal pollution caused by discarded
shell wastes and can also prevent the rapid growth of the population of harmful insects such
as mosquitoes and flies living in the discarded shells. Aside from that, this study would also
be beneficial in a classroom setting especially for teachers who still use chalk as a medium
for discussing his/her lessons.

Moreover, commercial chalk is usually made from calcium sulfate, an inorganic

compound, or mined calcium carbonate. Even though these compounds are already proven
to be non-toxic, the chalk dust from commercial chalk can still affect our health because it
does accumulate in the human respiratory system, which means that it can cause long-term
health problems as a result of overexposure to the chalk dust. While the newly developed
chalk is made from oyster shells which are composed naturally of calcium carbonate. This
makes the product harmless to the human body, and also its powder can be used directly as
a soil conditioner for school vegetable and flower gardens (Hassan, 2011).

As a whole, the study focuses on the utilization of the oyster shell as a raw material
for producing chalk. The primary phase in conducting this study is gathering of ample
amount of oyster shell wastes and removing the residues attached to the shells. These
collected shell wastes will then be pulverized or converted into powdered form. After that,
the powdered oyster shells will undergo compression and will be molded into a shape
similar to the commercial chalk. This study of chalk making using oyster shell wastes will
also include the evaluation of the product in terms of its effectiveness and acceptability by
testing or assessing three of its properties namely; texture or the visual and tactile surface
characteristics of the chalk, compactness or the solidity of the structure of the chalk, and
vividness or clarity of its chalk print when used in blackboards.
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