An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet. Across their lifecycle, plastics – including plastic chemicals – result in a range of adverse health outcomes, the researchers write in a Health Policy report for the British journal.
We want to make people aware of the fact that plastic is not as safe, not as convenient, and not as cheap as they think it is. Plastics are made from fossil fuels, contaminate food and water, are tied to many human illnesses, and impose steep costs for medical care and environmental damage."
Philip Landrigan, MD, Study Co-Author and Professor, Boston College
He is also the director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health.
Tracking these impacts and a range of public and private interventions to meet the expected goals of the UN treaty will be the focus of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics, a joint initiative of Boston College, Germany’s Heidelberg University, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and Australia’s Minderoo Foundation.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics debuts Monday, August 4, and will be available at www.bc.edu/plastics-countdown, according to Landrigan, lead author of the landmark 2023 report of the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.
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