Health, Economic Costs of Exposure to 3 Chemicals in Plastic: $1.5T in a Year, Study Shows

The adverse health effects related to three toxic chemicals commonly found in plastics reached $1.5 trillion in a single year, in the form of premature deaths, chronic diseases and lower IQs, according to a new study led by a University of Maryland economist.

Distinguished University Professor Maureen Cropper and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Western Australia, Boston College and Royal Children’s Hospital analyzed data from 38 countries, representing one-third of the global population, for the study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More than 16,000 chemicals are incorporated into plastics to produce color, flexibility and durability, but they may leach from plastics, resulting in widespread human exposure during everyday use.

Bisphenol A (BPA), commonly found in food packaging, is an endocrine disruptor associated with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and reproductive disorders. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), used in industrial food processing, household products and electronics, has been linked to cardiovascular mortality and developmental issues. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardants added to synthetic textiles, furniture and other household products, are neurotoxic and impair cognitive development in children when their mothers are exposed during pregnancy.

“Our reason for quantifying these health effects was to focus on the damages associated with three of the best studied chemicals in plastics and to estimate exposures in as many countries as we could,” said Cropper.

The study estimated some of the health and economic impacts of these chemicals for 2015, the year that provides the most complete assessment based on availability of data:

• BPA exposure was associated with 5.4 million cases of heart disease and 346,000 strokes, leading to 431,000 deaths. The economic toll of these deaths was valued at nearly $1 trillion.
• DEHP exposure, particularly among individuals aged 55-64, was linked to approximately 164,000 deaths, resulting in economic losses of $398 billion.
• PBDE exposure in pregnant women led to a loss of 11.7 million IQ points in children born that year, with associated productivity losses exceeding $80 billion.

“Looking at just three chemicals, we found significant health and economic costs, and we believe these estimates to be quite conservative,” said Yongjoon Park, assistant professor of resource economics at UMass Amherst.

The research focused on these metrics because they are well established in biomedical literature and their economic costs are substantial.

The United States, Canada and members of the European Union have adopted measures to reduce exposure to BPA, DEHP and PBDE. It credits these efforts with declines in associated health risks over time. For example, cardiovascular mortality attributable to BPA in the U.S. fell by 60% from 2003 to 2015 due to regulatory and voluntary actions by manufacturers.

Despite these advancements, more than 70% of chemicals used in plastics remain untested for toxicity.

“Protection of human health against the hazards of chemicals in plastics will require a paradigm shift in national chemical law,” write the authors, who also include Sarah Dunlop (University of Western Australia), Hudson Hinshaw (University of Maryland), Philip Landrigan (Boston College) and Christos Symeonides (Royal Children’s Hospital).

They emphasized the need for binding international agreements under the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty to safeguard public health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where plastic consumption is rapidly increasing.

Support for the research was provided by the Minderoo Foundation.

This article is based on a news release from UMass Amherst’s News and Media Relations Office.