Plastics are a threat to human health! We demand a strong global treaty that will protect our health and the health of our future generations!

For close to a hundred years, humanity has been silently exposed to toxic chemicals hidden in plastics. According to the PlastChem report, among more than 16,000 plastic chemicals, over 4,200 have been classified as highly hazardous to human health, but less than 6% of these chemicals are subject to global regulation. Meanwhile, oil, gas, and coal industries continue to extract petrochemical feedstocks and mass produce chemical products that are woven into everyday plastics. Driven by profit above all else, these industries continue to place plastics on a global marketplace while by-passing scrutiny on the risks they pose to human health.

Plastics contain hazardous chemicals affecting our health and fertility, such as phthalates and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as endocrine disrupting chemicals. We are seeing more studies that link these chemicals to infertility in humans, and in animals, obesity, cancer and even preterm birth morbidity and mortality. What is more concerning, is that this is only the tip of the plastic iceberg! Incomplete data, lack of transparency on chemical compositions, and fragmented regulations make it difficult for countries to put preventive measures in place. Moreover, these chemicals are difficult to trace before they arrive in our homes and workplaces in the form of innumerable plastic products that threaten our health.

The ubiquity, complexity, and hazardous characteristics of plastics require strong legally binding global regulations. Only an international treaty that addresses plastics and its toxic chemicals along its full lifecycle can safeguard human health and protect future generations.

1) A treaty that ends plastic pollution is one that prevents pollution. As plastic producers recklessly produce more plastics, we unknowingly pollute our bodies with chemicals that lack complete information on the harmful effects that they have on our health. We need a treaty that obligates countries to provide transparency on plastic chemicals and eliminate groups of chemicals that are hazardous to human health.

2) A strong plastic treaty must comprehensively regulate chemicals along its full lifecycle, not just those found in plastic products. Toxic chemicals that are emitted during the extraction of oil, gas, and coal to create the chemical feedstocks must be addressed under the treaty and binding obligations must regulate hazardous chemicals at each stage of its lifecycle to help phase them out.

3) Plastic chemicals are a direct threat to the enjoyment of our human right to health. Unfettered production of plastics, which are projected to increase, expose us to harmful chemicals that are being marketed and sold while burdening us with a myriad of health issues. Simply swapping out plastic products with non-plastic materials is inadequate to ameliorate the harm. We need a treaty that can hold plastic producing polluters to account for the harm that they continue to cause and for prohibiting us from attaining the possible highest standard of physical and mental health.

We are finally faced with an opportunity to stop the scourge of plastics on our health and on the health of our children. Join us in calling for an international legally binding treaty that will prevent plastic chemicals from harming human health.