“Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics pose a serious threat to public health and cost the U.S. an estimated $250 billion in increased health care costs in 2018, according to new research published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The paper is titled ‘Chemicals Used in Plastic Materials: An Estimate of the Attributable Disease Burden and Costs in the US.'”
Leonardo Trasande,, M.D., M.P.P., study author, explains:
“Our study found plastics contribute substantially to disease and associated social costs in the U.S., about $250 billion in 2018 alone. These costs are equivalent to 1.22% of the Gross Domestic Product. The diseases due to plastics run the entire life course from preterm birth to obesity, heart disease and cancers. Our study drives home the need to address chemicals used in plastic materials as part of the Global Plastics Treaty. Actions through the Global Plastics Treaty and other policy initiatives will reduce these costs in proportion to the actual reductions in chemical exposures achieved.”
Michael Belliveau, Executive Director of Defend Our Health and study co-author, adds:
“This study shows that preventing plastic pollution can reduce the incidence of disease, disability and early death, and its attendant human suffering and health care costs. Policymakers and market leaders must detoxify and slash the use of petrochemical plastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. We urge negotiators to finalize a Global Plastics Treaty that caps and reduces plastic production and eliminate EDCs as plastics additives.”
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