Thousands more chemicals in plastic than previously thought, report finds

While the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other institutions had previously identified 13,000 plastic chemicals, the report by a team of European scientists found more than 16,000 chemicals — a quarter of which are thought to be hazardous to human health and the environment.

Lead author, Martin Wagner, an environmental toxicologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said that between hundreds and thousands of chemicals can be found in one plastic product alone.

The report, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, comes as government negotiators grapple with devising the world's first treaty to tackle mounting plastic pollution, as some 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced every year.

But only addressing plastic waste doesn't go far enough to protect people, report co-author and managing director of the Swiss nonprofit Food Packaging Forum, Jane Muncke, said.

Plastic can leach into the environment, including water and food that people consume, she said, leading to “adverse health outcomes”, which include links to fertility issues and cardiovascular disease.

The plastics industry has said any treaty should promote recycling and re-use of plastic.

But scientists flagged the need for greater transparency on what chemicals — including additives, processing aids, and impurities — are going into plastics - including recycled products.

A quarter of the identified chemicals lack basic information on their basic chemical identity, the report said.

Only 6% of the chemicals found in plastics are regulated internationally. Without regulatory pressure, "there is no motivation to disclose what's in the plastics," Wagner said.

That's something a plastics treaty could help to address. Treaty negotiations continue next month in Ottawa, Canada, with the aim of finalising a treaty in December in the South Korean city of Busan.

Reuters