Plastic pollution is a “grave, growing and under-recognized danger” to health that is costing the world at least $1.5 trillion a year, a report published Monday in the Lancet medical journal said.
The new review of existing evidence, which was carried out by leading health researchers and doctors, was published one day ahead of fresh talks in Geneva aiming at getting the world’s first treaty on plastic pollution. The experts called for the delegates from nearly 180 nations expected to attend the gathering to finally agree on a treaty after previous failed attempts.
Comparing plastic to air and lead pollution, the report said the impact on health of plastic pollution could be mitigated by laws and policies.
“Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually,” it said.
A recent umbrella review of epidemiological research on the health impacts of plastic chemicals showed “consistent evidence for multiple health effects at all stages of human life for many plastic chemicals” and found that infants and young children were especially at risk, the report said. “These effects include impaired reproductive potential (eg, polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis), perinatal effects (eg, miscarriage, reduced birthweight, and malformations of the genital organs), diminished cognitive function (eg, intelligence quotient loss), insulin resistance, hypertension and obesity in children, and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity, and cancer in adults.”
“It is incumbent on us to act in response,” Philip Landrigan, a doctor and researcher at Boston College, said in a statement responding to the report. “To those meeting in Geneva: please take up the challenge and the opportunity of finding the common ground that will enable meaningful and effective international cooperation in response to this global crisis.”
The researchers also warned about tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics that have been found throughout nature — and throughout human bodies. The full effect of microplastics on health are not yet fully known, but researchers have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of this ubiquitous plastic.
The amount of plastic produced by the world has risen from two million tons in 1950 to 475 million tons in 2022, the report said.
The number is projected to triple by 2060, yet currently less than 10% of all plastic is recycled, it added.
Plastic is made from fossil fuels, and Landrigan said that the world’s plastic “crisis” is connected to its climate crisis.
“There is no understating the magnitude of both the climate crisis and the plastic crisis,” Landrigan said.
“They are both causing disease, death and disability today in tens of thousands of people, and these harms will become more severe in the years ahead as the planet continues to warm and plastic production continues to increase,” he said.
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