New Delhi: An international group of researchers and experts has launched an initiative aimed at tracking health impacts due to plastics, ahead of the final negotiations before the signing of the world’s first treaty on regulating the chemical substances.
Titled ‘The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics’, the launch accompanies the release of a ‘Health Policy’, which is published in ‘The Lancet’ journal and a review of currently available evidence on how plastics — including microplastics and plastic chemicals — affect human health.
The team of experts, including members of the United Nations (UN)-established Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, have authored the ‘Health Policy’ document.
The ‘UN Global Plastics Treaty‘ is a legally binding document aimed to regulate plastics through their life cycle from production to consumption to disposal.
The second part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee — titled ‘INC 5.2’ — is scheduled for August 5 to 14, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. The first part took place in Busan, South Korea, in November-December 2024.
In ‘The Lancet’ document, the team of experts point to projections of plastic production, which is expected to triple by 2060, should the current trends continue.
Describing the evidence of how an exposure to plastics at any stage of its life cycle — production, use or disposal — can endanger one’s health, the experts said emissions during production add PM2.5 particles to the air, thereby contributing to pollution.
Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, along with hazardous chemicals, are also released, to which workers are exposed, the experts added.
The team also pointed to a lack of transparent communication regarding the constituents and toxicity of plastics.
Studies have found microplastics in tissues obtained from humans’ brains and reproductive organs, among other body parts, indicating the pervasive nature of the materials.
Microplastics have been consistently associated with higher cardiovascular and neurological risks, even as evidence in this regard continues to emerge.
The experts said that while more research is needed to understand the relationship of plastics with potential health impacts, “a precautionary approach is warranted.”
They added that nearly 60 per cent of unmanaged, untreated plastic waste is estimated to be burned in the open and is a major source of air pollution in low- and middle-income countries.
The review also found evidence of how plastic waste can provide an environment for mosquitoes to lay eggs and enable growth of micro-organisms, which go on to spread vector-borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial, or antibiotic, resistance occurs when disease-causing microbes have become immune to the very drugs designed to kill them, thereby rendering the drugs ineffective in treating a disease.
It is said to contribute towards prolonging the duration of a patient’s hospital admission, raising treatment costs and burdening healthcare systems, especially in places where resources are already stressed.
The newly launched Lancet Countdown “will identify and track a series of indicators that document the impacts of plastics and plastic chemicals on human health across all stages of the plastic life cycle”, with the first report expected in mid-2026, the authors said.
