Norwegian-Swiss research team has ID'd "more than 16,000 chemicals in plastic products in the first comprehensive database of all known plastic chemicals [it hopes will inform] international negotiations for a treaty to curb plastic use & production"
“at least 25% of these are chemicals of concern [with] tendency to persist without degrading, ability to build up in [living] organisms, mobility through the environment & toxicity"
The vast majority of these chemicals - "about 10,000 of [them,] did not have sufficient information to determine their potential risks" 😱
“We urgently need [to fill] those data gaps,” Wagner says. This could take decades even with ample scientific funding. The report’s authors recommend...a regulatory approach called “no data, no market,” which would put the onus on companies to provide toxicity data about chemicals before they can sell products that contain them."
[So, 14,200 out of 16,000 plastics chemicals are either a) known to be unsafe, or b) we have no idea if they're safe.]
"The health problems linked to plastic chemicals are a significant burden on society...study published in January estimated that the annual health-related costs attributable to exposure to four types of plastic chemicals—[phthalates, bisphenols, PFASs & flame-retardant chemicals (PBDEs)]—cost $250 billion per year in the U.S., about 1.2% of the nation’s gross domestic product."
"Phthalates...disrupt the reproductive system, Diamond says. Her research has also shown that exposure to phthalates in household dust in a child’s first year of life is linked with increased risk of asthma at age five."
"Bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), are another group of plastic chemicals that are well-known for disrupting the body’s hormonal regulation."
"And then there are...PFASs, which have been linked with cancer risk & immune system problems."
It's been over a decade since I started eliminating all plastics from our household, as much as possible (thanks to getting pregnant & reading up on them). One thing I always encourage people to eliminate first is plastics in the kitchen: e.g.nonstick items, & [#melamine.]
"melamine...used to make bowls & other dinnerware...is classified as a carcinogen by the European Union & has been detected in drinking water, yet it is widely used."
"Exposure to these chemicals is associated with health problems, including developmental disorders, cancer, diabetes & infertility."
"The...authors recommend prioritizing research on understudied chemicals based on the size of the market for them," "more transparency about what's in plastics," & "simplifying plastic recipes"
"There are about 3,000 chemicals used as dyes...could be streamlined to reduce potential health & environmental impacts" & increase the quantities of recyclable plastic.
"Global plastic recycling rates are as low as 9%...15% of plastic waste is collected for recycling, but 40% [nearly half!!] is discarded from the recycling process because of its low quality.
If this continues, plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems could triple from nine million to 14 million metric tons in 2016 to 23 million to 37 million by 2040."
“We don’t have enough research on plastic chemicals,” says Christopher Reddy, a marine geochemist who studies plastic pollution at Woods Hole.
"The PlastChem team hopes the database will provide guidance to policymakers heading into the next round of negotiations for an international plastics treaty that is overseen by the U.N. Environment Program’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution...
negotiations will be held in Ottawa in April"
"ways to limit plastic pollution by focusing on the entire life cycle of plastics: ways to regulate how they are designed & manufactured, [&] how to ensure that they are recycled"
"The High-Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, led by Norway & Rwanda, is pushing to ban or restrict production of problematic plastics & develop sustainability criteria"
The chemical industry "has been pushing back on these efforts, asserting that the focus should be on recycling, not production"
Plastic waste scientists & environmental groups point out "recycling" isn't the solution: very low rate of recycling, in part b/c the high # of chemicals in plastic mean low quality products.
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