Our health is seriously damaged by plastic and the chemicals in it

Today, the Australian Minderoo Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Adelaide, published a major study, the Plastic Health Umbrella Review, which systematically reviewed research data from thousands of scientific studies on exposure to plastic chemicals and their effects on human health.

It looked specifically at five classes of the most used plastic chemicals that we know people are exposed to: BPA (bisphenol A), phthalates (plasticisers), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), both flame retardants, and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

In conclusion, there is consistent and irrefutable evidence that plastic chemicals in every class studied are harmful to human health throughout the human life cycle.

It covers a wide range of health effects. Some of them are shocking.

Before and at birth, for example, these include miscarriages and genital malformations.

In childhood, chemicals in plastic can lead to (among other things) lower IQ, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, reduced sperm quality and cancer.

For adults, liver disease, malignant melanoma and insulin resistance are added, among many other health effects.

The conclusion is, not one of the plastic chemicals studied is safe.

But the substances studied are only a fraction of the thousands added to plastic. Most of them have not been adequately or even ever studied for effects on human health. The Minderoo Foundation therefore advocates taking precautionary measures.

Maria Westerbos, director Plastic Soup Foundation: “Minderoo hopes this report will influence the negotiations for a global plastics treaty. The fifth round will take place in three months’ time in Busan, South Korea.  After all, it is no longer about ocean pollution, but about putting our own and our children’s health at risk. I fully agree with Minderoo”.