New study reveals alarming human health risks from exposure to chemicals in household plastics

20 Aug 2024 – A world-first study has revealed exposure to chemicals found in common plastics increases health risks throughout the entire human lifecycle, including impacting birth outcomes, child neurodevelopment, reproductive health, and metabolic, endocrine and nutrition systems.

The research, released today, was a collaboration between international research organisation JBI at the University of Adelaide and Minderoo Foundation with a peer-reviewed publication in Annals of Global Health and a three-part report available here.

“This research categorically proves that none of the examined chemicals – which are found in plastic items people use every single day and are known to infiltrate our bodies – can be considered safe,” Professor Sarah Dunlop, Minderoo Foundation’s Head of Plastics & Human Health, said.

“This is a red flag for the world. We must minimise our exposure to these plastic chemicals, as well as the many that haven’t yet been assessed for human health outcomes but are known to be toxic.”

The new findings strengthen calls for domestic and international efforts to regulate plastics, including the ongoing negotiation of a Global Plastics Treaty, with talks set to continue at INC-5 in Busan, South Korea, in November.

Paediatrician and co-author of the study, Dr Christos Symeonides, said plastics were so pervasive that urgent action was required to understand and limit the risk of disease and death attributed to plastic chemical exposure.

“From the products we use to the packaging our food comes in, plastics and the chemicals included in this study are an inescapable part of modern living,” Dr Symeonides — who is Research Principal at Minderoo Foundation — said.

“This umbrella review is a first of its kind, bringing together data from a large number of systematic reviews. It provides a powerful state of play on how several classes of chemicals we are exposed to via plastics are consistently linked with disease, disability and premature death.”

Umbrella reviews represent one of the highest levels of evidence synthesis currently available. The umbrella review undertaken by JBI synthesised data from 52 systematic reviews, involving >900 meta-analyses on ~1.5 million individuals, including pregnant women, babies, children and adults.

Assoc. Professor Edoardo Aromataris, Director Synthesis Science at JBI, said: “Consistent, statistically significant (95 per cent) evidence was found for harm across a wide range of health outcomes for each of the chemical classes.”

The umbrella review found exposure to plastic-associated chemicals was linked to a wide range of health outcomes, including:

• Before birth (miscarriage)
• At birth (weight, genital development and appearance), in children (neurodevelopment, obesity, blood pressure, asthma and bronchitis, precocious puberty in girls — i.e. onset before eight years)
• During adulthood (endometriosis, sperm concentration and quality, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, thyroid function, polycystic ovary syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancer).

Assoc. Professor Aromataris said the results of the umbrella review are clear. “None of the plastic-associated chemicals examined in the umbrella review can be considered safe, with multiple harmful health effects linked to each chemical class,” he said.

Minderoo Foundation Director Jay Weatherill said the potential impact of plastic chemicals on human health required a global response.

“The Global Plastics Treaty could provide a regulatory framework to protect human health from the impact of these chemicals,” Mr Weatherill said. “When faced with similar discoveries from other chemicals, including mercury, the world has come together and agreed a framework to protect human health. This is the chance for countries to do the same and protect the health of their citizens by agreeing a list of chemicals to be included in the treaty.”

Mr Weatherill said there had been coordinated and significant opposition to the Global Plastics Treaty by countries that produce plastic and the petrochemical industry.

“They argue that reducing consumer demand and recycling are sufficient responses to this crisis. This is a fallacy. We cannot recycle our way out,” he said.

“Almost all plastic produced still exists in our environment which means we are still exposed to it and the chemicals used in its manufacturing. A comprehensive treaty with the protection of human health at its core is the first step in addressing this crisis.

“Minderoo Foundation have advocated strongly for a global plastics treaty and will be doing so again at INC-5 in South Korea come November.”

Specifically, Minderoo Foundation is calling for a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty, which includes two (2) key asks:

• The reduction of virgin fossil fuel-based plastic production through the implementation of a polymer premium on primary plastic production, and
• The removal of harmful chemicals in plastics by global bans of their use in plastic production under the treaty’s framework.