The healthcare costs associated with plastics in the United States may amount to hundreds of billions of dollars per year, according to a recent study.
Healthcare costs attributable to the chemicals found in plastic totaled over $249 billion in 2018, or 1.22% of the country’s gross domestic product, a study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society reported.
The study was conducted by researchers hailing from New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Maine-based non-profit Defend Our Health. It aimed to better quantify the disease burden of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), phthalates, bisphenols, and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
These plastic chemicals — just four of the estimated 16,000 involved in the production of plastic — have long been linked to chronic disease and death.
For instance, some studies have found that exposure to phthalates — which make plastic more durable — is associated with higher rates of obesity, a rampant public health issue in the country.
Similarly, bisphenols, which make plastic hard, have been linked to obesity, developmental issues in children, and fetal abnormalities.
“We’re talking about cancer. We’re talking about brain damage in young children. We’re talking about obesity and diabetes, heart disease, and early deaths in adults,” said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, an NYU professor and expert in children’s environmental health, who was the lead author of the new study, according to CNN.
While the study focused on four substances known to cause health issues, approximately 3,000 more plastic chemicals have been shown to contain hazardous properties. The issue, according to Swedish researcher Bethanie Carney Almroth, is that little data exists on how plastic products might harm people’s health.
“To my mind, that is absolutely insane,” said Carney Almroth, who was not involved in the latest study, according to CNN. “We don’t know what is in these products, we don’t know who is being exposed to what, we don’t know the implications of those exposures.”
Although it was not the first study of its kind, some experts believe that it can help generate more talk on the policy level for regulating these chemicals.
“These health costs are currently paid for by society and by the individuals who suffer from the diseases, while the plastics manufacturers and businesses that use plastics for their products make handsome profits,” said Jane Muncke, managing director and chief scientific officer at the Switzerland-based non-profit Food Packaging Forum, according to CNN.
“If there were data available on all of these 16,000 plastic chemicals,” Muncke added, “I am convinced that the actual associated health costs would be far higher.”