With microplastics found in human organs and rising production, researchers urge global cutback

The 8 billion tonne of plastic waste that have accumulated on Earth pose a serious and growing threat to human health, according to a new report published in the leading medical journal The Lancet. Ahead of a United Nations (UN) conference on plastic pollution, the authors warn that countries urgently need to reduce plastic production.

Global plastic output has surged more than 200-fold since 1950, with no signs of slowing. Microscopic fragments of plastic have been discovered nearly everywhere from the ocean floor to the clouds over Mount Fuji, as well as in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Microplastics have been detected in human lungs, brains, and bone marrow, along with blood, semen, and breast milk.

The Lancet report highlights that plastics are harmful at every stage of their lifecycle from fossil fuel extraction and manufacturing, to use and eventual disposal. Of the 16,000 plus chemicals used in plastic production such as flame retardants, fillers, and dyes many are hazardous to human health. Fetuses, infants, and young children are especially vulnerable to these chemical exposures.

Scientific studies have linked plastic-related chemicals to low birthweight in babies, increased obesity risk and reduced IQ in children, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer in adults. According to one estimate, the health-related costs associated with just three plastic chemicals PBDE, BPA, and DEHP exceed USD 1.5 trillion annually.

This new research has been released just before the next round of negotiations for a UN treaty on plastic pollution, scheduled to begin Tuesday in Geneva. Talks in December ended in a deadlock after oil-rich nations opposed curbs on production.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia view rising plastic demand as a means to sustain oil consumption, even as electric vehicles reduce the global appetite for petrol. These nations argue that expanding recycling, rather than cutting production, is the solution to the plastic crisis.

The Lancet study counters this claim by noting that less than 10 per cent of plastic is currently recycled. Most of it is incinerated, dumped in landfills, or left to degrade in the environment. If left unchecked, global plastic production could nearly triple by 2060.

“Unlike paper, glass, steel, and aluminum, chemically complex plastics cannot be readily recycled,” the report notes. “It is now clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic pollution crisis.”