Plastic Health Umbrella Review

About

Now, in one report, there is a comprehensive overview of substantial and concerning evidence for how chemicals in plastic are harming our health.

Minderoo Foundation, in collaboration with JBI at the University of Adelaide, undertook an umbrella review, systematically examining vast amounts of research data from thousands of scientific studies on exposure to plastic chemicals and the impacts on human health.

The Plastic Health Umbrella Review specifically looked at some of the most commonly used plastic chemicals that we know humans are exposed to – BPA (bisphenol A), phthalates (plasticisers), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PBDEs (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers), both of which are flame retardants, and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

The Umbrella Review found that there is consistent and irrefutable evidence that plastic chemicals in every class examined harm human health across the entire human life cycle.

Key findings

1. We are exposed to chemicals in plastic through our daily lives

   These exposure starts from preconception onwards and includes BPA (bisphenol A), phthalates (plasticisers), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PBDEs (Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).

2. This exposure is linked to a wide range of health impacts

   The health impacts affect all stages of life, and include:

   

   Before birth and at birth

   miscarriage, weight, genital malformation

   

   Childhood

   lower IQ, ADHD (girls), obesity, blood pressure, asthma, psychomotor development, non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, thyroid function, cardiovascular disease, bronchitis, allergic rhinitis (“hay fever”), insulin resistance

   

   Adulthood

   endometriosis, sperm concentration and quality, diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance, type II diabetes, obesity, liver cancer, lung cancer, hepatic disease, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, thyroid function, malignant melanoma, non-hodgkin’s lymphoma

3. None of the plastic chemicals examined can be considered safe

4. We cannot assume unstudied plastic substances are safe

5. The plastic chemicals examined are a tiny fraction of the thousands used in plastics

   Many thousands of chemicals are used in plastics. The Umbrella Review found that most plastic chemicals, as well as polymers and microplastics, have been insufficiently or never studied for human health effects. Considering the evidence of harm found for the few chemicals that have been examined, we should take a precautionary approach, and not assume safety for the rest.

The evidence

The findings from the Umbrella Review are accessible through:

What does this mean for human health?

Our key findings show increased health risks at every stage of life. Watch the video below to learn more and find out how you can be part of the solution.

We need a Global Plastics Treaty

The potential impact of plastic chemicals on our health requires a global response. There is currently a Global Plastics Treaty being negotiated by countries which could provide a regulatory framework to protect human health from the impact of these chemicals.

FAQs

Creators

This project was a collaboration between Minderoo Foundation and JBI.

Minderoo Foundation:

Christos Symeonides (a,b), Yannick Mulders (a), Sarah Dunlop (a,c)


(a) Minderoo Foundation
(b) Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Australia

(c) School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Australia

JBI, University of Adelaide:

Janine Dizon (a,b), Timothy Barker (a), Ashley Whitehorn (a), Tania Marin (a,b), Danielle Pollock (a), Edoardo Aromataris (a)  (a) JBI, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia(b) College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia