Harmful Effects of Plastic Waste on Human Well-being, Reveals Research
In a groundbreaking report published in The Lancet, a team of international experts has highlighted plastic pollution as a serious and under-recognized health risk, causing disease and death across all ages and costing over $1.5 trillion annually in health-related economic losses.
The report identifies plastic pollution as a threat that endangers human health at every stage of its life cycle—from production to disposal. Key health risks associated with plastic pollution include reproductive harm, perinatal effects, neurodevelopmental issues, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, increased cancer risk, and exposure to microplastics and plastic chemicals.
Microplastics have been found in human tissues and fluids, though their exact health impacts require further research. Many plastic chemicals are toxic and affect human health at all life stages. Airborne emissions during plastic production, such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and hazardous chemicals, expose workers and communities to harmful pollutants.
The report calls for urgent, science-based actions to curb plastic pollution. Recommended measures include enacting laws and policies to regulate plastics similarly to air and lead pollution, supporting the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics project, implementing a global plastics treaty, and applying a precautionary approach to microplastic exposure.
The Global Plastics Treaty, currently under negotiation at the United Nations, aims to cover the full lifecycle of plastic. The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics project, launched to track the impact of plastics on human health, will identify and track a series of indicators that document the impacts of plastics on human health.
Unmanaged plastic waste, a major source of air pollution in low-and middle-income countries, accounts for an estimated 57% of plastic waste that is burned in the open. The report predicts that, without changes, plastic production will nearly triple between 2019 and 2060.
The meeting for the Global Plastics Treaty is scheduled for tomorrow, and the first indicator report from the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics is expected in mid-2026. Prof Philip J Landrigan, from Boston College, US, stated that plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually. He emphasized the need for a greater focus on health impacts when considering plastic pollution and noted the lack of transparency around which chemicals are present in plastics, their production volumes, uses, and known or potential toxicity. Landrigan stated that the worsening of plastics' harms can be mitigated cost-effectively with evidence-based policies.
- The report, published in The Lancet, also emphasizes concerns in the field of environmental science, warning that unmanaged plastic waste, a significant source of air pollution in low- and middle-income countries, contributes to medical-conditions, such as respiratory diseases caused by the burning of plastic waste in the open.
- In the realm of health-and-wellness, Prof Philip J Landrigan from Boston College underscores the importance of scientific research in understanding the exact health impacts of microplastics, as they have been found in human tissues and fluids, and calls for a precautionary approach to microplastic exposure.
