Will Banning Single-Use Plastics Impact Our Health? Saba Aziz - Global News
go to original July 14, 2022

For years, researchers have been studying the impact plastic waste can have not only on the environment, but our health.

“There’s well-documented evidence that plastic poses a ubiquitous threat to human health — and this is both a chemical and a physical threat,” said Cirino, author of Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis.

A February 2019 report titled Plastic & Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet found that the use of plastic products leads to skin contact, ingestion and inhalation of large amounts of microplastic particles and hundreds of toxic substances which can cause cancer, diabetes and developmental toxicity.

The direct exposure can also affect the body’s cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive and respiratory systems.

A recent study published in April 2022 in the Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity found that exposure to plastic-associated chemicals increased the risk of metabolic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

“The potential harmful effects of plastics and plastic-associated chemicals PACs on the environment and human health is increasingly recognized by health professionals, national regulators, the plastics industry and the general population,” the authors from Australia wrote.

However, they stressed that more evidence is needed to influence any changes in health policy.

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