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Plastic pollution: how can the global health community fight the growing problem?
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Plastic waste isn't just an environmental problem, growing evidence suggests it may harm human health through toxic chemicals, disease spread, and disruptions to our food supply, yet major health organizations have been largely silent on the issue. This paper argues that doctors and public health experts need to start treating plastic pollution as a health priority: researching its real impact on our bodies, pushing for better waste policies, and cutting down on plastic use in hospitals and clinics.
⇒ Plastic pollution-unmanaged disposal of plastic waste in water and on land-is a growing global crisis affecting the environment and animals, and an expanding body of evidence suggests negative impacts on human health.⇒ Plastic products and plastic waste threaten human health because of their toxicity, role in disease propagation, possible interference with food supply through their environmental effects and socioeconomic impacts.⇒ Despite the burden caused by plastic pollution, the topic does not appear to be a priority on the agenda of the global public health community.International health organisations have not been vocal about plastic pollution as a health threat, and the issue is not frequently discussed in the global health scientific literature.⇒ The global health community should urgently: (1) fill the evidence gap around plastic exposure and impact for human health to strengthen the current indirect and disjointed evidence; (2) join forces with environmentalists and animal health specialists to advocate for policies to influence plastic production, consumption and waste management; (3) advocate for the adoption of a circular economy model in healthcare to reduce plastic medical waste and (4) contribute to combatting plastic pollution through the use of their technical skills, the 'public health toolbox'.
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