Chemicals of concern in plastics; DEHP, diethylhexyl phthalate, 117-81-7; DBP, dibutyl phthalate, 84-74-2; BPA, bisphenol A, 80-05-7; 4NP.
A new report shows that plastic chemicals are more numerous and dangerous than previously thought.
Plastics can contain any mixture of more than 16,000 different chemicals, and at least 4,200 (or 26%) of these substances are highly hazardous to human and environmental health, according to an international team of scientists from the PlastChem Project. In each of the major types of plastic tested, including food packaging, more than 400 hazardous chemicals of concern were found, and all of the plastics tested contained hazardous chemicals that can leach into food, homes, the environment and the human body. Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is widely known as the most toxic plastic for health and the environment.In its production, it releases dioxins, phthalates, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, lead, cadmium and other toxic chemicals. It can filter many of these harmful chemicals into the water or food it contains, which is how those substances enter our bodies. BPA stands for bisphenol A, an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1950s. It is a systematic and comprehensive approach to understanding the chemical dimension of plastics, and offers solid, science-based and future-proof options to respond to this challenge.
A previous report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other international institutions identified 13,000 plastic chemicals. The report describes a set of credible and publicly available scientific studies and initiatives focused on the chemicals present in plastics and on the interface between science and policy. Representatives and world leaders will support a strong and binding United Nations Plastics Treaty that puts an end to the pollution and injustice caused by plastic and requires strict and precautionary regulation of plastic chemicals. To date, information on the chemicals in plastics has largely remained under the ownership of the plastics industry.
Not only must a strong treaty demand a rapid reduction in plastic production, but it must also address plastic chemicals. The report provides the state of knowledge about chemicals in plastics and, based on convincing scientific evidence, calls for urgent action to be taken to address the chemicals present in plastics as part of global action against plastic pollution. This initiative has created a comprehensive and high-quality scientific report, which synthesizes the evidence on the chemical substances present in plastics in order to develop evidence-based policies to better protect public health and the environment. The new PlastChem report shows that there are more plastic chemicals than previously known, with more than 16,000 chemicals included in the newly released PlastChem database, which accompanies the report.
The PlastChem project aims to address the fragmentary understanding of the chemical substances contained in plastics and their impact on health and the environment. Experts from the PlastChem project stress the need to find new and better ways to regulate plastic chemicals, including hazard-based identification of groups of plastic chemicals of concern. The most famous toxic chemical in plastics is bisphenol A, or BPA, which is a hormone disruptor related to a large amount of health problems. The report was prepared by UNEP in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure Applicable to Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, with the lead authors of the International Group on Chemical Pollution and expert contributions Key.
