A landmark analysis by almost 50 internationally renowned experts reveals plastic is doing untold harm to humanity.
ABOUT THE REPORT:
* A new coalition of experts including public health and environmental scientists have attempted to calculate the full suite of harms plastics cause globally
* The analysis covers detrimental effects from the mining of oil, gas and coal to make plastic, its production involving more than 10,000 often toxic chemicals, its use and its disposal
* It looks at impacts including human health and well-being, the environment and particularly the ocean, and the economy
WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH:
* During use and disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals into the environment and into people
* Plastic additives disrupt endocrine function and increase risks for premature births, neurodevelopmental disorders, male reproductive birth defects, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease and cancers
* Chemical-laden micro- and nanoplastics formed when plastics degrade in the environment can enter living organisms, including humans
* Emerging, albeit incomplete evidence indicates they may cause harm due to their physical and toxicological effects
* Babies in the womb and young children are at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects, due to the high sensitivity of early development to hazardous chemicals
* Plastic-associated exposures are linked to increased risks of prematurity, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects of the reproductive organs, neurodevelopmental impairment, impaired lung growth and childhood cancer
* Early-life exposures to plastic-associated chemicals also increase the risk of other diseases emerging later in life
* Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil fuels used to make plastic suffer increased mortality including from dust-related lung disease and heart disease
* Plastic production workers are at increased risk of leukaemia, brain cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic injury and decreased fertility
* Workers producing plastic textiles die of bladder cancer, lung cancer and mesothelioma
* Plastic recycling workers have increased rates of cardiovascular disease, toxic metal poisoning, neuropathy and lung cancer
* People living adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of health problems including premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukaemia, and heart and lung disease
ECONOMIC HARMS:
* It’s estimated that in 2015 the health-related costs of plastic production alone exceeded $250 billion international dollars (an artificial currency used to eliminate purchasing power differences when comparing national economies)
* In the US, health costs of disease and disability caused by the plastic chemicals PBDE, BPA and DEHP exceeded $920 billion international dollars in 2015
* Plastic production results in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.96 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually
* Using the US Environmental Protection Agency’s social cost of carbon metric, the estimated annual cost of of those emissions was put at $341 billion international dollars
CONCLUSIONS:
* Current patterns of plastic production, use and disposal are not sustainable result in significant harm to human health, the environment, and the economy
* There is an urgent need for the world’s nations to adopt a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty, in line with a UN resolution to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024
* The commission says the treaty must include a cap on global plastic production with targets, timetables and national contributions, similar to how nations account for their climate change action
* The commission wants the treaty to extend to the thousands of chemicals used to make plastics
* It also wants new health standards for plastics and plastic additives, full disclosure of all components, and systems to trace those components
SOURCE: The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health
Tracey Ferrier
(Australian Associated Press)