|

50 thousand early deaths, 4 million cases of obesity, and 30 thousand intellectual disabilities among the harms caused every year by plastics, resulting in $250 billion in health care costs

Widely used plastics are making Americans sick, disabled and die early, according to a new peer-reviewed scientific study published today in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

A research team led by Dr. Leo Trasande from New York University examined evidence that toxic chemicals added to plastics result in human exposure associated with adverse health effects and estimated the portion of those chemicals added to or used to make plastics.

“This study shows that to protect public health, policymakers and industry must reduce the production and toxicity of plastics,” said Michael Belliveau, executive director of the nonprofit Defend Our Health and a co-author of the study. “We urge the United States government to support a Global Plastics Treaty to reduce and detoxify plastics production.”

In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution to develop a legally-binding Global Plastics Treaty to curb rampant plastic pollution. After three negotiating sessions, a majority of countries support mandates to reduce plastics production and toxicity, while low-ambition countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia along with the petrochemical industry oppose preventing plastic pollution at its source. They support more recycling even though only 5% of plastics have ever been recycled. The United States has staked out a vague middle-of-the-road position. Negotiators meet again in Ottawa, Canada in April.

The plastics-related chemicals studied include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) used to slow the spread of fires, phthalates used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other plastics more flexible, bisphenols (BPA) used to make polycarbonate plastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) added to polyethylene and plastic and to make fluoropolymers. These represent a fraction of the more than 10,000 chemicals in plastics.

The research study published today is the first to ever estimate the “plastics-related fraction,” or portion of each chemical that’s used in plastics, which ranged from 32% to 100%. Combined with updated science on the health and economic impact of chemical exposures, researchers were able to attribute cases of early death, disease, and disabilities to the use of plastics.

The plastics-attributable disease burden and cost from exposure to plastics-related chemicals (see Table 8) was estimated for 2018, the most recent year of available data, and include:

3,990,000 cases of adult obesity from PFOA, a PFAS, costing $15.8 billion

713,000 IQ points lost & 23,900 cases of intellectual disability from PBDE-47 costing $158 billion

121,000 cases of male infertility from BBP and DBP, two phthalates, costing $3.1 billion

118,000 cases of childhood obesity from PFOA, a PFAS, costing $2.5 billion

59,100 cases of endometriosis in women from DEHP, a phthalate, costing $38.9 billion

50,200 cases of cardiovascular mortality in adults from DEHP, a phthalate, costing $23.4 billion

13,600 cases of hypothyroidism in women from PFOA, a PFAS, costing $1.2 billion

9,350 cases of low birth weight from prenatal exposure to PFOA, a PFAS, costing $1.3 billion

7,130 cases of childhood obesity from bisphenol A (BPA) costing $1.0 billion

6,700 cases of polycystic ovary syndrome in women from PFOA, a PFAS, costing $9.8 million

5,640 cases of gestational diabetes in pregnant people from PFOA, a PFAS, costing $385 million

5,350 cases of obesity in women from DEHP, a phthalate, costing $1.9 billion