Plastics are a “grave, growing and under-recognised danger” to human and planetary health, according to a major new review in The Lancet. The world is in a plastics crisis, causing disease and death from infancy to old age, with health-related damages estimated at $1.5 trillion annually.
Plastic production crisis
The driving force behind the crisis is the massive acceleration in production. Since 1950, plastic output has increased more than 200 times. It is set to almost triple again by 2060, reaching over a billion tonnes a year. While plastics have essential applications in healthcare, construction, and technology, the fastest growth has been in single-use products such as bottles, packaging, and food containers.
As production has soared, so has plastic pollution. An estimated 8bn tonnes now contaminates the planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench. Less than 10% is recycled, leaving the rest to accumulate in landfills, waterways, oceans, and the atmosphere.
The risks
The review warns that plastics threaten health at every stage of their life cycle- from fossil fuel extraction, to manufacturing, use, and disposal. The risks include air pollution, toxic chemical exposure, and the infiltration of human bodies by microplastics. Plastic debris can also create unexpected health hazards: for example, discarded items can collect rainwater, creating ideal breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes.
More than 98% of plastics are made from fossil fuels. Production is energy-intensive, releasing the equivalent of 2bn tonnes of CO₂ annually- more than the total emissions of Russia- and contributing to the climate crisis. In addition, production releases hazardous air pollutants, and over half of unmanaged plastic waste is openly burned, further polluting the air.
Plastics also contain more than 16,000 different chemicals, including fillers, dyes, flame retardants, and stabilisers. Many of these are linked to serious health effects, yet transparency over their use is limited.
Health Effects
The review highlights that foetuses, infants, and children are especially vulnerable. Exposure to plastics has been associated with increased risks of miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, birth defects, impaired lung growth, childhood cancer, and fertility problems later in life.
Over time, plastic breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics, which enter the human body through drinking water, food, and the air we breathe. Particles have been detected in blood, brains, placentas, breast milk, semen, and bone marrow. Their long-term impact is not yet fully understood, but early research has linked them to heart attacks, strokes, and inflammatory responses. The report’s authors urge a precautionary approach.
What’s next
While industry groups and petrostates argue the solution is to improve recycling, the review concludes that recycling alone cannot solve the plastics crisis. Unlike materials such as paper, glass, and aluminium, plastics are chemically complex and often cannot be recycled efficiently. “It is now clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic pollution crisis,” the authors warn.
The publication comes ahead of the sixth- and potentially final- round of negotiations for a legally binding global plastics treaty. More than 100 countries back a cap on plastic production, but talks have been hampered by opposition from major oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, and by industry lobbying.
“We know a great deal about the range and severity of the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution,” said Prof Philip Landrigan, a paediatrician and epidemiologist at Boston College in the US, and lead author of the report. “The impacts fall most heavily on vulnerable populations, especially infants and children. They result in huge economic costs to society. It is incumbent on us to act.”
The Lancet analysis is the first in a planned series of reports that will regularly track the health and environmental consequences of plastics. Co-author Margaret Spring said: “These reports will offer decision-makers around the world a robust and independent data source to inform the development of effective policies addressing plastic pollution at all levels.”
With production still rising and health impacts mounting, experts say the coming treaty negotiations may be the world’s best chance to bring the plastics crisis under control.
Sources: The Guardian; The Lancet
Also read: Why you shouldn’t touch paper receipts, experts warn
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