 Shell s new petrochemical complex in southwestern Pennsylvania. The life cycle of a plastic usually starts with a fossil fuel — oil, gas or coal — that is chemically altered through petrochemical production into final products. Credit: Nate Smallwood for EHN and Sierra Magazine
The life cycle of a plastic usually starts with a fossil fuel — oil, gas or coal — that is chemically altered through petrochemical production into final products. Chemical pollution related to plastics — from the initial fossil fuel extraction to the plastic waste littering our land and water — has been attributed to serious health impacts, as noted in our previous reporting here. The Journal of the Endocrine Society recently published a study that found plastics were linked to $249 billion in healthcare costs in 2018 alone.
Of the 6,276 chemicals PlastChem has data for, they identified:
3,567 as “hazardous chemicals of concern”1,168 as “less hazardous”28 as “watch list” 153 as “not hazardous“Research shows many of these chemicals are emitted or released [from plastic products], resulting in exposure … and the exposure has substantial health impacts,” Wagner said.
Monclús stated that PlastChem does not consider the chemicals listed as “not hazardous” to be safe. PlastChem was unable to evaluate the “not hazardous” chemicals for all aspects of their hazard testing.
Plastic policy recommendations
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