Plastic chemicals contributing to hundreds of thousands of global deaths, study finds

A review of chemicals in common plastics has found a potential link with hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Maureen Cropper from the University of Maryland and her colleagues assessed the impact of three types of chemicals primarily used in plastic to analyse their impact on public health.

The three main chemicals are bisphenol A (BPA), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). We encounter these publics all the time, as both BPA and DEHP are found in food packaging, and PBDEs are flame retardants used in some household items, including furniture and electronics.

The team looked at 1,700 studies that were previously published. They estimated people’s exposure to the three chemicals listed above across 38 countries, representing roughly a third of the world’s population.

Plastic chemicals found in food packaging was linked to deaths Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

Three of the 38 countries — Canada, the US, and South Korea — have public databases that monitor the levels of these chemicals in blood and urine samples, which provided the team with even more accurate data.

The findings suggest more strict regulations on toxins to protect public health. The researchers calculated the health outcomes that could be attributed to the three chemicals, when looking at medical records and toxicology reports.

In 2015, about 5.4 million cases of coronary heart disease and 346,000 strokes were associated with BPA exposure, and roughly 164,000 deaths in people aged between 55 and 64 may have been due to DEHP.

The prevalence of these chemicals has decreased in countries in Europe, as well as the US and Canada since 2000, The New Scientist reports. “I think one of the real limitations, frankly, is the lack of exposure data on these substances,” Cropper told the publication. “It would be a good idea if more countries actually monitored [exposures to] these and other substances.”

In other news, you've probably heard about the dangers of microplastics and how we can end up ingesting them, but researchers from The Pennsylvania State University have suggested the pesky particles may actually play a part in cloud formation.

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