Latest news with #TheLancetCountdown
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Health
- Gulf Today
Pressing need for tackling a global plastics crisis
British medical journal The Lancet has warned that there is a need to check the rampant use of plastics and that it is causing harm, including death, to human beings, to animals, in rivers and seas. The journal said, 'Plastics are a grave, growing, under-recognised danger to human and planetary health. Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age.' It also said that the use of plastics is contributing to climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity. It is reckoned that 8,000 mega tonnes pollute the planet as of now. Plastic production is set to triple by 2060, and only less than 10 per cent of it is recycled. The plastics problem is costing world governments $1.5 trillion annually in health costs. The piece carrying the warnings against plastic is part of the campaign that the journal has launched, called, 'The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics.' It coincides with the start of a 175-nation global conference on plastics in Switzerland. The aim of the conference is to forge a Global Plastics Treaty. It is not going to be easy because countries like China, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia are opposing a ban on plastics, and prefer plastic recycling. Plastic recycling is not a helpful solution with the existing technology because the proportion of recycling is very low, 10 per cent. So, 90 per cent un-recycled plastic hangs ominously over the whole globe, causing immense harm to the health of the population and the ecosystem. The Lancet has expressed the view that the harm cause by plastics is underestimated, and therefore the real extent of harm done by it remains an underestimation. The journal notes, 'Given the considerable gaps of knowledge of plastic chemicals, it is reasonable to conclude that the full extent of these chemicals' harm to health is underestimated and that the burden of disease currently attributed to them is undercounted.' The use of plastic is ubiquitous, and its use across sectors has grown in humongous proportions since the 1950s, from furniture to electronics and electric appliances to furniture at home and in offices, in the packaging industry and medical appliances. So, an effective alternative in place of plastics has to be found if the use of harmful plastics is to be controlled and reduced. The journal argues that the petro-chemical industry is churning out plastic even as the use of fossil fuels is going down. This appears to be quite speculative in the absence of hard data. It would of course be unfair to dismiss the hypothesis out of hand. The journal is also not on firm ground in the solution it offers. It says, 'It is now clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic pollution crisis. Control of the plastics crisis will require continuing research coupled with the science-driven interventions – laws, policies, monitoring, enforcement, incentives, and innovation.' There is implied that scientific knowledge as it exists now does not offer any ready-made solutions to the plastic crisis. So, government policies banning the use of plastic will of be of little use. It also shows that not all technological breakthroughs are benign. The discovery of plastic and its innumerable uses has now turned out to be a big source of pollution, and a clear danger to the health of people. The topics for research on plastics have to focus on recycling, or find another set of chemicals which can be as protean as the use of chemicals that have given rise to plastics. It is said that 16,000 chemicals are used in the making of plastics. With the evolving AI helping chemical research in developing newer molecules and produce new kind of chemicals than the chemicals that produce plastics.
Business Recorder
5 days ago
- Health
- Business Recorder
Plastic pollution ‘grave and growing' health threat: Lancet
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 are 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
5 days ago
- Health
- 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.
NBC News
5 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
Plastics 'crisis' is costing $1.5tn in global deaths and injuries, report says
A global 'plastics crisis' is costing governments and taxpayers $1.5 trillion annually as they try to cope with the escalating injury, disability and death caused by the substance polluting our land, sea and bodies, according to a new report by a leading medical journal. Plastic production is on course to triple by 2060, less than 10% of it is recycled, and around 8,000 megatons now pollute the planet, according to a review of recent studies published Sunday by The Lancet. This causes harm at every stage of its lifecycle: from the extraction of fossil fuels and production, to its use by humans and eventual disposal into the environment, the British publication said. 'Plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health,' it said. 'Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age' and are 'contributing to climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.' These harms 'fall disproportionately upon low-income and at-risk populations,' it added. This is the latest dire warning by experts about the ubiquity and threat posed by plastic, which journal called 'the defining material of our age.' After decades of scientists warning about plastic being found in the oceans and rivers, microplastics are now being discovered inside humans — including in breast milk and brain tissue. Sunday's release marked the start of a new monitoring system called 'The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics,' which it says will track political attempts to combat the problem. It was launched to coincide with the latest and final round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, where 175 countries are trying to forge the world's first Global Plastics Treaty. Campaigners hope the talks, starting Tuesday through Aug. 14, will result in mandatory targets for reducing plastic production. A group of countries, including China, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have so far opposed these measures, instead lobbying for increased plastic recycling instead. According to The Lancet, such petrochemical giants are a 'key driver' of spiraling plastic production, as they pivot their businesses toward plastic in response to the global decline in demand for fossil energy. Different plastics are made from up to 16,000 chemicals, which 'enter the human body via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption,' often from food and drink containers and packaging, the study said. Unborn babies, infants and young children are 'especially at risk,' with harms including miscarriage, physical malformations, reduced cognitive function and diabetes, it said. For adults, the risks include cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. 'Given the considerable gaps in knowledge of plastic chemicals, it is reasonable to conclude that the full extent of these chemicals' harms to health is underestimated and that the burden of disease currently attributed to them is undercounted,' it added. The Lancet quoted one study estimating the global costs of these diseases as $1.5 trillion. 'It is now clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic pollution crisis,' The Lancet said. 'Control of the plastics crisis will require continuing research coupled with the science-driven interventions — laws, policies, monitoring, enforcement, incentives, and innovations.'
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Health
- Al Etihad
Plastic pollution 'grave and growing' health threat: Lancet
4 Aug 2025 11:37 PARIS (AFP)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 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 treatment on plastic pollution.'Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually,' said the review in The Lancet medical plastic to air pollution and lead, the report said its impact on health could be mitigated by laws and experts called for the delegates from nearly 180 nations gathering in Geneva to finally agree to a treaty after previous failed 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 full effect of microplastics on health is not yet fully known, but researchers have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of this ubiquitous amount of plastic produced by the world has risen from two million tons in 1950 to 475 million tons in 2022, the report said. The number is projected to triple by currently less than 10 percent of all plastic is recycled, it 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.
