• The impact of certain plastics and the chemicals that compose them on health systems around the world would represent astronomical sums, calculated in trillions (1,000 billion) dollars, according to the conclusions of an unprecedented study unveiled Tuesday in Monaco.
  • The authors of this study, which includes the Monaco Scientific Center, the Minderoo Foundation and Boston College, advocate that "all polymers and chemicals be subjected to toxicity tests before entering the market, as well as post-market surveillance".
  • In 2015 alone, and in the United States alone, the "costs of illness and disability caused by chemicals associated with PBDE, BPA and DEHP plastic exceeded $920 billion," according to the study.

The involvement of certain plastics and the chemicals that compose them is no longer in doubt in certain conditions. But what is the true scale of the problem? Their impact on health systems around the world would represent astronomical sums, calculated in trillions (1,000 billion) dollars, according to the conclusions of an unprecedented study unveiled Tuesday in the Principality, on the occasion of the Monaco Ocean Week. They "cause diseases, deficiencies and premature mortality at each stage of its life cycle", says the Minderoo-Monaco Commission, according to which the repercussions "disproportionately affect vulnerable, low-income and minority communities, especially children".

While negotiations began last fall in Uruguay to develop an "International Treaty against Plastic Pollution" under the auspices of the UN, the researchers gathered for this study, including the Scientific Center of Monaco, the Minderoo Foundation and Boston College, made their recommendations. They call for "all polymers and chemicals to be subjected to toxicity testing before entering the market, as well as post-market surveillance". In order to limit the dramatic consequences on the world's populations.



Impacts throughout production

In 2015, during its manufacturing process alone, plastic would have caused health expenses of more than $ 250 billion worldwide. Coal miners, oil and gas workers who extract raw materials "suffer from increased mortality due to traumatic injuries" but especially to diseases, note the fifty authors of this study, which required eighteen months of work, according to Dr. Hervé Raps, of the Scientific Center of Monaco, interviewed by 20 Minutes.

And the picture is also bleak for those who intervene in production plants with "an increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, hepatic angiosarcoma, brain and breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic damage and decreased fertility". In the textile industry, bladder and lung cancers, as well as other lung diseases, are also over-represented. Employees in the field of plastic recycling would not be spared.

Just like the inhabitants living near plastic production and waste disposal sites. They "are exposed to increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer," the specialists still list. An alarming observation, not to mention the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the plastics industry. It would emit 1.96 gigatons of CO2 per year, an additional annual expenditure of $ 341 billion, according to the measure of the "social cost" of carbon, established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Chemical additives in focus

And the bill climbs even higher when we look at the finished product and in particular the "costs related to illness and disability caused by the chemicals associated with plastic: PBDEs, BPA and DEHP". Abbreviations under which hide artificial compounds with names often as complex as their consequences on the human body: polybrominated diphenyl ether, bisphenol A and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate. That same year 2015, these compounds "known to increase the risk of miscarriage, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer" according to the study, and whose use some countries have since regulated, would have caused $ 920 billion in spending on American soil alone.


Researchers have not yet been able to compile this data on a global scale. They note, however, that in the European Union, where PBDEs have been regulated for many years, studies "show reduced impacts on human productivity losses [intellectual disability and IQ loss] compared to populations tested in the United States." In the meantime, the note would still be abysmal, especially since these calculations are based only on these three additives "while this industry uses more than 10,000," recalls to 20 Minutes Professor Sarah Dunlop, co-author of the study, responsible for plastics and human health at the Minderoo Foundation.

"Plastic producers give very few details about the composition and potential toxicity of the chemicals they use. In most countries, they don't even have a legal obligation to do so," adds Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College. "A situation that is all the more problematic because the health costs that result from all this are not charged to them. They are assumed by citizens, taxpayers and governments without compensation, "says this specialist, also interviewed by 20 Minutes.

What about microplastics in the oceans?

And these expenses would still be largely underestimated. Especially with regard to all traces of plastic found in nature, and especially in the seas and oceans. On this, the researchers could not establish any diagnosis. They point to the need "to better measure and monitor the effects of chemicals used by the plastics industry on marine species" and regret "a significant lack of knowledge regarding the ingestion of plastic nanoparticles."

"This waste threatens the ocean ecosystems on which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihoods and well-being," says Dr. Hervé Raps. "In addition to their intrinsic effects, plastics can also be a vector of potentially pathogenic microorganisms and other chemicals adsorbed by polluted water," says the head of the Monaco Science Center. With probably always adverse effects on health.

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