The estimated total plastic-attributable disease burden in the United States in 2018 [alone] cost the nation $249 billion, or 1.22% of the gross domestic product.
according to the conclusion of a research write-up at Medscape [no paywall, but free registration might be required.]
From the opening paragraphs:
Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) via daily use of plastics is a major contributor to the overall disease burden in the United States [according to the findings of] a large-scale analysis.
The research, published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society on January 11 [supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Passport Foundation], indicated that taken together, the disease burden [and societal costs] attributable to EDCs … added up to almost $250 billion in 2018...
"The diseases due to plastics run the entire life course from preterm birth to obesity, heart disease, [immune malfunction diabetes, kidney failure,] cancers"….
The researchers emphasize that health harms from plastics chemicals are global, and call for governmental policies and international agreements increasing addressing of manufacturing and user-exposure issues, to reduce disease prevalence, loss to personal and national economies, and for protection of public health and environment. They also reference findings that the true costs are much higher:
The social costs of disease and disability in the United States due to PBDEs, phthalates, and bisphenols ... as well as PFAS ... are very large, on the order of <big>$400 billion annually.</big> A more recent study by the Minderoo-Monaco Commission suggests even higher costs, more than $900 billion per year. ... the commission mistakenly assumes that PBDEs, phthalates, and bisphenols are used only in plastic materials, when these chemicals are also used in nonplastic applications, including solvents and ceramics...
In fact, these substances are also creating exposure in residential, workplace and utility-district plumbing and piping, in automobile and aircraft manufacture, in toys, clothing, footwear, furniture, medical applications, and countless other consumer goods, business goods, and industrial uses.
To qualify as a plastic-related use of a chemical, an application must belong in whole or in part to at least one of the following categories (based on previously published work [12]):
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Monomers: used to make synthetic or semisynthetic polymers
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Plastic additives: added to polymers to enhance desirable characteristics. Here we include functional additives (stabilizers, antistatic agents, flame retardants, plasticizers, lubricants, slip agents, curing agents, foaming agents, biocides); colorants (pigments, azodyes); fillers (carbon black, talc, calcium carbonate); and reinforcements (glass and carbon fibers)
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Processing aids: enable or ease the production or processing of plastics (polymerization catalysts, solvents, mold release agents, lubricants)
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Surface treatments applied to plastics as defined earlier (paints, adhesives, coatings; many of these are synthetic polymeric materials themselves)
The authors of the Medscape write-up touch upon EDCs such as polybrominated diphenylethers in flame retardant additives, bisphenols and phthalates in food packaging (and other uses to increase flexibility, transparency, durability, longevity in a range of common products), and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) such as in nonstick cooking utensils; they link to the March 2022 United Nations Environment Assembly global plastics treaty [anticipatible impact unknown]; and discuss some issues of research for identifying and calculating disease burden prevalence and costs, with figures broken out for BPA ($1.02 billion) and pthalates ($66.7 billion).
The write-up authors also advise doctors to counsel patients on reducing EDC exposure (how likely this is to happen in American highspeed healthcare is debatable) but limit their suggestions to food-related practices:
- at home and in workplace, use glass or stainless steel etc rather than plastic bottles, containers or mealware; when travelling bring stainless steel containers to fill after clearing security;
- avoid microwaving in plastic even if labeled microwave-safe;
- limit consumption of canned and packaged food that comes in plastic or plastic-lined containers, e.g., steel-cans, shelf-stable boxes, juice boxes, milk cartons, microwavable meals, impermeable fast-food containers, etc etc
- avoid putting plastic food-use items in dishwashing machines.
Beyond the scope of this research and write-up, realistically, is the question of alternatives to “plastics” as conventionally understood, i.e., sourced from/made by the petrochemical industry. The researchers mention that they included in the research
polymers if they are synthetic (polymerized from either petrochemical or biobased monomers), or semisynthetic (natural polymers such as cellulose and natural rubber that are chemically modified, such as rayon), [and excluded] naturally occurring polymers* (eg, cellulose, 100% cotton, natural rubber).
<small>*link added by diarist.</small>
<big><big>Washington University in St Louis January 24, 2024 Finding nature-inspired alternatives to plastics focus of new center </big></big>
Despite efforts to reduce the use of plastic or recycle it, most plastic produced in the world ends up in landfills, the oceans or dumped, bringing with it catastrophic effects on the environment, the ecosystem and the economy.
[Funded in part by a five-year $3.6 million Growing Convergence Research grant from the National Science Foundation] a team of researchers [at] the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has established the Synthetic Biology Manufacturing of Advanced Materials Research Center (SMARC) to create an integrated education, research and innovation ecosystem ... across multiple disciplines and research areas … to develop a new class of biologically synthesized, protein-based and biodegradable materials that harness themes from nature to replace traditional petroleum-derived plastics...
Its mission is to push the frontiers of knowledge through convergent research; develop pathways to train a manufacturing workforce ...; leverage an environment of diversity and inclusion to maximize human capital; and enhance innovation … by understanding and overcoming barriers to technology adoption in partnership with industry….
“Our vision is a future in which advances in synthetic biology, biotechnology and biomanufacturing, machine learning, social sciences, materials science and mechanics [will] transition the world toward wide-spread use of bio-derived and biodegradable plastics from renewable feedstocks...”
<big><big>TIME November 28, 2023</big></big> published a caveat about alternative plastics:
...Approximately 40% of all plastic produced is designed for single-use purposes, and little of it is easily recycled. Like the [tiny] PLU sticker [on each piece of fruit and veg in the grocery store] … the long-term consequences are enormous: The production of plastic, 98% of which is sourced from fossil fuels, is the cause of some 10% of all global greenhouse-gas emissions.
One proposed solution is to replace these plastics with [biodegradable, compostable] alternatives … Theoretically, these products could seamlessly slot into existing supply chains, requiring no sacrifice on the part of consumers, who are clamoring for more sustainable options.
But production is limited in scale, more expensive than conventional plastic, and it’s not [certain] the alternatives are actually better for human and planetary health: most plant-based plastics are, on a molecular level, identical to their fossil-fuel-sourced siblings and last just as long in the environment. Other[s] require many of the same toxic chemicals … to keep them waterproof, flexible, durable, and colorfast.
[And] the infrastructure to ensure these bioplastics actually biodegrade or compost is very limited [so far]…
...The future [and role] of bioplastics in the global economy, is under negotiation. In November, representatives from 162 nations converged in Nairobi, Kenya, for INC-3, the third of five planned sessions for the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee to develop a global treaty to end plastic pollution, a kind of Paris Climate Accords for plastic. So far, [suggestions range] from greater recycling capacity to a tax on manufacturers, which would go to global cleanup projects. Among the more ambitious proposals is for global production of virgin plastic to be slashed, largely through a reduction in single use products. Treaty negotiations are scheduled to conclude at the end of 2024….
<big><big>J Endocr Soc. 2023 Dec 1; The Global Plastics Treaty: An Endocrinologist's Assessment. </big></big> Marina Olga Fernandez and Leonardo Trasande.
Abstract
Plastics are everywhere. They are in many goods that we use every day. However, they are also a source of pollution. In 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, a historic resolution was adopted with the aim of convening an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, with the intention to focus on the entire life cycle of plastics. Plastics, in essence, are composed of chemicals. According to a recent report from the secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions, around 13 000 chemicals are associated with plastics and plastic pollution. Many of these chemicals are endocrine-disrupting chemicals and, according to reports by members of the Endocrine Society and others, exposure to some of these chemicals causes enormous costs due to the development of preventable diseases. The global plastics treaty brings the opportunity for harmonized, international regulation of chemicals with endocrine disrupting properties present in plastic products.
Sections <small> ■ The Problem of Plastic Pollution ■ Toward a Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution ■ Chemicals of Concern: Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals ■ Regulation of Chemicals in Plastics: The Example of Bisphenol A ■ The Need for the Global Treaty to Regulate Chemicals in Plastics ■ Acknowledgements ■ Abbreviations ■ Contributor Information (Fernandez and Trasande) ■ Funding ■ Disclosures ■ References ■</small>
<big>Additional information from other sources (if varying in how current):</big>
- <small>UPDATE</small> from Medscape Santé Publique France (SPF), the French national public health agency research: 21 out of 59 health effects of suspected associatiion with EDCs exposure prioritized for particular surveillance.
- GLOBAL PLASTICS POLITY TOOL.ORG developed by the Univ of California Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, and the Benioff Ocean Initiative shows that a 90% reduction of single-use plastics would remove some 286 million metric tons of ocean pollution by 2050—the equivalent in water bottles stacked end-to-end would cover the distance to the sun and back nearly six times.
- wikipedia Endocrine disruptor
- wikipedia Theo Colborn (1927–2014) — an environmental health analyst, and best known for her studies on the health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals, she was Founder and President Emerita of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), based in Paonia, Colorado, and Professor Emerita of Zoology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
- US National Library of Medicine PubMedCentral title search on terms “endocrine” and “disruptor” or “disruptors” — Full-Text Search Results: 548 items in date order, January 2024 first, May 1983 last.
- Google scholar search by term “endocrine disruptors”
- Environ Health Perspect. 1975 Jun; 11:Public health implications of components of plastics manufacture. Regulatory aspects and research needs — that’s how far back recognition of the issue stretches.
Related: DK posts on plastics reprocessing/remanufacturing and making plastics from discards for conservation of environment e.g.,
- SEPTEMBER 2020 Closing the loop: UBQ plant in Netherlands converting waste into plastic, wood, concrete substitutes. (NOTE: two UBQ employees were murdered in the Hamas Oct 7, 2023 attack: others lost relatives or were uprooted. Many of the wounded, the dead and the hostages are, or were, friends of people who work in the company, or children of friends. But on October 30, unanimous decision of UBQ survivors re-opened the plant, some travelling over a hundred miles each way to get there, one coming from halfway around the world. And they found that despite anti-Israel sentiment, all clients and others in Europe and elsewhere were concerned for them, consoled them, and want to go on working with them. Launched 2019, UBQ was listed among TIME's THE BEST INVENTIONS OF 2023: 200 innovations changing how we live. [Amazon page])
- Good news from Kenya and in this 2021 DK diary by Walter Einenkel (staff) - woman-in-engineering/business-woman Nzambi Matee reprocesses recycled plastic waste into pavers stronger than conventional bricks or concrete.
- September 2019 Used Diapers, Carpets, Moldy Yogurt Cartons & Shampoo Bottles ⇒ Pristine New Polypropylene?
- January 2019 Do'able? Aerogel from landfill & ocean trash for insulation, fire-proofing, oil-spill clean-up..