Toxic Plastic Chemicals

 


1.5 trillion dollars a year is spent on adverse health effects related to the toxic chemicals in plastic. An interesting study from 38 countries and including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, concludes this expense is from premature deaths, chronic diseases and lower IQs.

Yongjoon Park is from UMass Amherst. He is an assistant professor of resource economics. He explains,  "More than 16,000 chemicals are incorporated into plastics to produce color, flexibility and durability, but we know very little about how most of them affect human health. Looking at just three chemicals, we found significant health and economic costs-and we believe these estimates to be quite conservative."

The three toxic chemicals in plastic are bisphenol A (BPA), Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers.. (PBDE). BPA: Is in most food packaging. It is an endocrine disruptor, promotes cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and reproductive disorders. DEHP: Used in industrial food   processing. It's in household products and electronics. Promotes cardio vascular mortality and development issues in children. PBDE: Used as flame retardants on clothing and furniture. It's neurotoxic, it impairs cognitive development in children. 

In 2015, BPA cost nearly a trillion worldwide dollars, with 5.4 million associated cases of heart disease and 346,000 strokes with 431,000 deaths. DEHP exposure was linked to 164,000 deaths, costing 398 billion. PBDE cost us worldwide an estimated 80 billion from lost IQ points in children. 

Maureen L. Cropper is a professor of economics at the University of Maryland. She states, "Our goal was to quantify and value the heath impacts of these chemicals in as many countries as possible for 2015. In the U.S. where we have exposure data going back to 2003, health damages were much greater in the past." 

Canada, the US and members of the EU have reduced exposure to BPA, DEHP and PBDE. Cardio vascular mortality fell by 60% from 2003-2015 due to both regulatory actions and voluntary actions by manufacturers. There is a worldwide treaty in place, called the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty. It safeguards public health and helps protect us against the hazards of chemicals in plastics. 


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