As a result, plastic pollution has also soared, with 8bn tonnes now polluting the entire planet, the review said, from the top of Mount Everest<\/a> to the deepest ocean trench<\/a>. Less than 10% of plastic is recycled.<\/p>\n Plastics endangered people and the planet at every stage, the review said, from the extraction of the fossil fuels they were made from, to production, use and disposal. This results in air pollution, exposure to toxic chemicals and infiltration of the body with microplastics. Plastic pollution can even boost disease-carrying mosquitoes, as water captured in littered plastic provides good breeding sites.<\/p>\n The review, published in the leading medical journal the Lancet<\/a>, was released before the sixth and probably final round of negotiations between countries to agree a legally binding global plastics treaty<\/a> to tackle the crisis. The talks have been dogged by a deep disagreement between more than 100 countries that back a cap on plastic production and petrostates such as Saudi Arabia that oppose the proposal. The Guardian recently revealed how petrostates and plastic industry lobbyists are derailing<\/a> the negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know a great deal about the range and severity of the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution,\u201d said Prof Philip Landrigan, a paediatrician and epidemiologist at Boston College in the US, and lead author of the new report. He said it was imperative the plastics treaty included measures to protect human and planetary health.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impacts fall most heavily on vulnerable populations, especially infants and children,\u201d he said. \u201cThey result in huge economic costs to society. It is incumbent on us to act in response.\u201d<\/p>\n Petrostates and the plastics industry have argued the focus should be on recycling plastic, not cutting production. But, unlike paper, glass, steel and aluminium, chemically complex plastics cannot be readily recycled. The report said: \u201cIt is now clear that the world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic pollution crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 98% of plastics are made from fossil oil, gas and coal. The energy-intensive production process drives the climate crisis by releasing the equivalent of 2bn tonnes of CO2 a year \u2013 more than the emissions of Russia, the world\u2019s fourth biggest polluter. Plastic production also produces air pollution, while more than half of unmanaged plastic waste was burned in the open air, further increasing dirty air, the report noted.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n More than 16,000 chemicals are used in plastics, including fillers, dyes, flame retardants and stabilisers. Many plastic chemicals were linked to health effects at all stages of human life, the report said, but there was a lack of transparency about which chemicals were present in plastics.<\/p>\n The analysis found that foetuses, infants and young children were highly susceptible to the harms associated with plastics, with exposure associated with increased risks of miscarriage, premature and stillbirth, birth defects, impaired lung growth, childhood cancer and fertility problems later in life.<\/p>\n Plastic waste often breaks down into micro- and nano-plastics which enter the human body via water, food and breathing. The particles have been found in blood<\/a>, brains<\/a>, breast milk<\/a>, placentas<\/a>, semen<\/a> and bone marrow<\/a>. Their impact on human health is largely unknown as yet, but they have been linked to strokes and heart attacks<\/a> and the researchers said a precautionary approach was needed.<\/p>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754298256_483_1920.jpg\")
How plastics are invading our brain cells \u2013 video<\/p>\n