Plastic pollution 'grave and growing' health threat: Report
The new review of the existing evidence, which was carried out by leading health researchers and doctors, was published one day ahead of fresh talks opening in Geneva, aiming to seal the world's first treaty on plastic pollution.
"Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding US$1.5 trillion annually," said the review in The Lancet medical journal.
Comparing plastic to air pollution and lead, the report said its impact on health could be mitigated by laws and policies.
The experts called for the delegates from nearly 180 nations gathering in Geneva to finally agree to a treaty after previous failed attempts.
Philip Landrigan, a doctor and researcher at Boston College in the United States, warned that vulnerable people, particularly children, are most affected by plastic pollution.
"It is incumbent on us to act in response," he said in a statement.
"To those meeting in Geneva: please take up the challenge and the opportunity of finding the common ground that will enable meaningful and effective international cooperation in response to this global crisis."
The researchers also warned about tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics, which have been found throughout nature -- and throughout human bodies.
The full effect of microplastics on health is not yet fully known, but researchers have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of this ubiquitous plastic.
The amount of plastic produced by the world has risen from two million tonnes in 1950 to 475 million tonnes in 2022, the report said. The number is projected to triple by 2060.
Yet currently less than 10 percent of all plastic is recycled, it added.
Landrigan said that the world's plastic "crisis" is connected to its climate crisis. Plastic is made from fossil fuels.
"There is no understating the magnitude of both the climate crisis and the plastic crisis," Landrigan said.
"They are both causing disease, death, and disability today in tens of thousands of people, and these harms will become more severe in the years ahead as the planet continues to warm and plastic production continues to increase," he said.
The report also announced a new effort to track the impact plastic pollution has on health, the latest in a series called The Lancet Countdown.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Plastic pollution 'grave and growing' health threat: Report
Paris - Plastic pollution is a "grave, growing and under-recognised danger" to health that is costing the world at least $1.5 trillion a year, experts warned in a report on Monday. The new review of the existing evidence, which was carried out by leading health researchers and doctors, was published one day ahead of fresh talks opening in Geneva, aiming to seal the world's first treaty on plastic pollution. "Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding US$1.5 trillion annually," said the review in The Lancet medical journal. Comparing plastic to air pollution and lead, the report said its impact on health could be mitigated by laws and policies. The experts called for the delegates from nearly 180 nations gathering in Geneva to finally agree to a treaty after previous failed attempts. Philip Landrigan, a doctor and researcher at Boston College in the United States, warned that vulnerable people, particularly children, are most affected by plastic pollution. "It is incumbent on us to act in response," he said in a statement. "To those meeting in Geneva: please take up the challenge and the opportunity of finding the common ground that will enable meaningful and effective international cooperation in response to this global crisis." The researchers also warned about tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics, which have been found throughout nature -- and throughout human bodies. The full effect of microplastics on health is not yet fully known, but researchers have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of this ubiquitous plastic. The amount of plastic produced by the world has risen from two million tonnes in 1950 to 475 million tonnes in 2022, the report said. The number is projected to triple by 2060. Yet currently less than 10 percent of all plastic is recycled, it added. Landrigan said that the world's plastic "crisis" is connected to its climate crisis. Plastic is made from fossil fuels. "There is no understating the magnitude of both the climate crisis and the plastic crisis," Landrigan said. "They are both causing disease, death, and disability today in tens of thousands of people, and these harms will become more severe in the years ahead as the planet continues to warm and plastic production continues to increase," he said. The report also announced a new effort to track the impact plastic pollution has on health, the latest in a series called The Lancet Countdown.
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger
At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes on Gaza on Monday, including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine. The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. "Everyone who goes there comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe," said 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Thari. He was among mourners at Gaza City's Al Shifa Hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of their loved ones killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, according to Gaza's health officials. At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of UN aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials said. At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said. "We don't want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there's no life," Thari said. There was no immediate comment by Israel on Sunday's incident. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had not fired earlier on Monday in the vicinity of the aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip, but it did not elaborate further. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government's war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the captives. Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began. UN agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the past week, over 23,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by UN and other international organisations.
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- Times of Oman
Pharma businesses ready with contingency plans faced with US tariffs: Association of Healthcare Providers (India)
New Delhi: Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers are preparing a two-pronged strategy to offset the impact of the soon-to-be-effective 25 per cent US tariff on Indian goods, which includes drug exports, with industry experts anticipating that the move could significantly raise medicine costs in the American market. Girdhar Gyani, Director General of the Association of Healthcare Providers (India), has voiced concern over the financial burden the proposed US tariff would impose on both Indian exporters and American consumers. India currently supplies around 47 per cent of the US pharmaceutical market, largely in the form of affordable generics. "If the United States enforces this 25 per cent tariff, the cost of drug delivery in the US will inevitably rise. Our estimates show that American drug prices could increase by 20 to 25 per cent annually -- a burden of nearly USD 6 to USD 7 billion. It's unclear whether the US healthcare system can absorb such an impact," Gyani said. According to its website, the Association of Healthcare Providers (India) , a non-profit organisation, represents the majority of healthcare providers in India. Despite the initial blow to Indian manufacturers, Gyani stated that industry players are already preparing contingency plans. One such measure is ramping up production in US-based and Mexico-based facilities owned by Indian firms, which, according to Gyani, would bypass the tariff restrictions. "The second approach involves a shift in focus from basic generics to value-added combination drugs. These combination drugs, which offer the convenience of two medicines in one, can be priced higher despite having similar production costs," he noted. The goal is to increase the volume and price range of such drugs, thereby maintaining competitiveness even under the new tariff regime. Gyani also suggested that continued diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and Washington could help mitigate the situation. "Negotiations between the two governments are likely to continue, and we may eventually see a reduction or reconsideration of the tariff policy," he said. The executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday has imposed a flat 25 per cent tariff on all goods from India, with no product-level exemptions. The pharmaceutical sector has been a key pillar of India-US trade relations.
