Subtopic 2: Chemical additives

What are plastic additives?

Many chemical substances are incorporated in plastics for a range of functions. Plasticizers such as phthalates are included to make the resulting product more flexible, while flame retardants are often added to furniture and electronics to increase their fire resistance. There are a wide variety of chemicals that may be included for purposes such as enhancing durability, creating a water-repellant surface, or changing the color of the item. In plastic packaging alone, at least 4000 chemicals are used, with 63 of them having been classified as hazardous to human health.

Plastics are not only made up of intentionally added chemicals but also of non-intentionally added substances (NIAS) that may be breakdown products of manufacturing additives, side products, or contaminants. These NIAS are mostly unknown, and their potential toxicity is also unknown. This lack of knowledge means that no plastic product has undergone comprehensive testing to determine all the potential health effects that may be associated with it or the chemicals it contains. According to EHN (2023), biologist Dr. Pete Myers argues that this knowledge gap highlights the need for further research into the harmful effects of both plastic and the chemicals found within plastic products.

Source: Warmington (2019)

Toxicity of plastic additives

Although there is still much to be learned about plastic additives, there is already a significant amount of knowledge available. For instance, the potential health impacts of plastic additives have been the subject of research for several decades. Professor Dick Vethaak has stated that there is increasing evidence that plastic additives can be harmful to health, potentially causing toxicity, carcinogenicity, or disrupting endocrine systems. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern, warning that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) pose a significant threat to public health. These facts further emphasize the adverse effects of plastics on human well-being.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can imitate the hormones in our bodies, leading to potential interference with hormone regulation. This is a cause for concern as hormones play a crucial role in the development of fetuses, newborns, and children, who are considered more vulnerable to these chemicals. Hormones also drive many regulatory processes throughout our lives, including mood regulation, metabolism, and sexual function, which can be disrupted by EDCs as well. It is worth noting that hormones can have a significant impact at very low concentrations, even at part per billion or part per trillion concentrations. To put this into perspective, consider an Olympic-sized swimming pool and imagine a single droplet of water. This droplet represents a part per trillion, and according to Vandenberg et al. (2012), “testosterone at that concentration is what determines the sex of a baby boy”.

EDCs have been found to exert a significant impact on our bodies even at low concentrations, and multiple studies have shown that exposure to these chemicals can lead to various health problems, including infertility, obesity, diabetes, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Additionally, certain plastic additives have been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism. Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating the harmful effects of EDCs, regulation of these chemicals is significantly falling behind, and ongoing research aims to eventually restrict or ban dangerous groups of chemicals.

Source:  Sewwandi (2020)