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Defend Our Health education web tool is now available as a resource for frontline activists and advocates to gain a deeper understanding of the lifecycle of plastics production

Portland, ME — Defend Our Health (Defend) has just released a new Plastic Production Database that offers a comprehensive overview of the production process for the six most common plastics. The web tool supports advocates and activists who are combating the rapid expansion of the plastic industry by (1) providing data-driven facts and figures for robust, evidence-based data sources and (2) serving as an educational tool to demystify the complicated and toxic processes by which plastic is produced. 

The plastic industry poses the fastest-growing threat to our climate, human health, and environmental justice, but understanding how this industry operates and causes harm can be challenging. It encompasses varied and extensive supply chains and complex chemistry, often purposefully obscuring their processes to avoid scrutiny. In partnership with Material Research L3C, Defend collected comprehensive data on multiple aspects of plastic production, from the petrochemical facilities that convert fracked oil into plastic building blocks to the diverse range of plastic products consumers encounter daily. 

“The petrochemical industry can seem inscrutable for many reasons,” said Jim Vallette, president of Material Research. “Plastics chemistry is complex; industry publications are behind paywalls; government agencies protect the industry by calling basic data ‘confidential business information.’  Defend Our Health’s web tool overcomes these hurdles. It delivers precise information and concise evaluations. It provides a clear picture of the plastic factories and their impacts on neighborhoods.” 

Public attention is often focused on the pollution caused by plastic waste, such as water bottles in landfills or microplastics in drinking water. However, the harms of plastic start with how they are made. With this project, Defend brings attention to the threat plastic poses end to end: greenhouse gasses emitted by extracting fossil fuels, toxic chemicals released into the air, and the harmful chemical additives used in everyday plastics. This is increasingly important as the plastic industry plans to ramp up production — with emissions and related toxic releases estimated to double, or even triple, by 2050.  

“It’s imperative that the full life cycle harms created by petrochemical plastic production are accounted for and efforts are made to reduce them,” said Maya Rommwatt, Defend’s Director of Campaigns and Programs. “Plastic pollution is more than ocean litter; it’s a toxic soup that begins at the moment of oil and gas extraction and never ends. Plastic manufacturing processes pollute the air and water of numerous communities with hazardous carcinogens, as we can see from the EPA data on display in this database. Toxic chemical additives create further downstream hazards for consumers and anyone who comes into contact with plastics. Those hazards follow plastic as it degrades into microplastic and nanoplastic particles, carrying those same toxic chemicals all across the planet and even into our bodies. This database highlights some toxic additives and shows exactly what type of plastic is used in everyday products.”

The web tool highlights the dangers at each stage of producing six commonly used plastics: polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid. One important new feature the tool offers is an easy-to-understand “Hazard Score,” which demonstrates how toxic the chemicals used to create everyday plastic materials are. 

Most plastics cannot be used independently but require the addition of synthetic chemicals called additives. Additives alter the properties of plastic, such as changing its color or durability. However, they also increase the health hazards of plastic, particularly plastics that come in contact with food or are used by children. While the industry often keeps the additives it uses a trade secret, the web tool includes a compiled dataset of over 200 known chemical additives and the corresponding hazard score.  

“We were alarmed to see that over 90% of the additives in our dataset were considered a ‘high’ or ‘moderate’ hazard to humans and the environment,” said Dr. Trisha Vaidyanathan, Senior Director of Research at Defend Our Health. “This spoke to the idea that no ‘safe’ plastics exist. They all include some form of toxic chemical(s).” 

Concerns about additives are particularly pronounced in plastic recycling. Additives accumulate in recycled plastics, leading to greater hazards in the final products produced. A striking example is black plastic, which is often made from recycled electronics and has thus accumulated harmful additives used in electronics, such as flame retardants.

The database also provides information on specific facilities. Petrochemical facilities utilize a series of chemical reactions to transform fossil fuels into plastic building blocks, and each chemical produced throughout the process poses inherent hazards. These facilities are concentrated in some areas of the U.S., particularly Louisiana, Texas, and the Ohio River Valley, resulting in severe pollution for frontline communitiesthat consequently suffer from a heightened risk of cancer and other diseases. Defend gathered data on 140 facilities in the U.S., including their locations, surrounding demographics, self-reported emissions, and the plastic supply chains they support. To facilitate access to this data for advocates, Defend developed an interactive map that users can utilize to explore facilities in their community, learn about where different types of plastic are produced, and visualize how these facilities compare regarding various environmental and social harms.

The platform also helps users understand where everyday plastic products come from and the harm they have caused on their journey. With the web tool, users can explore how each type of plastic is used in manufacturing, along with several familiar examples of finished products. 

The tool will be disseminated to Defend’s advocacy partners, such as BreakFree From Plastic and ComingClean, as well as any other site fight groups and frontline activists who wish to fight against the expansion of plastic production. Defend Our Health will continue to be a resource for questions and is eager to help groups use this data to create strong, data-driven campaigns. The harms of the plastic industry can be difficult to grasp, but the more we understand, the better equipped we will be to fight all aspects of plastic pollution, from production to waste.