More than 16,000 chemicals are used in plastics, and a quarter are of concern
The PlastChem report found far more chemicals in plastics than regulators assumed, with over 4,200 hazardous and fewer than 6% regulated internationally.
Policymakers
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EU cuts the ‘safe’ dose of bisphenol A (BPA) 20,000-fold and then bans it in food packaging
The European Food Safety Authority concluded that dietary BPA exposure exceeds the new safe level by hundreds of times in every age group.
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World Health Organization (WHO): microplastic exposure is real, evidence of harm in humans is still limited
The World Health Organization’s cautious 2022 review says people are exposed to plastic particles but data on health effects remain scarce.
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Plastic touching coral raises disease risk from 4% to 89%
A survey of 124,000 corals across the Asia-Pacific found plastic debris multiplies the chance of coral disease more than twenty-fold.
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One plastic chemical linked to 356,000 heart-disease deaths a year
New York University (NYU) researchers estimate the plasticiser di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was linked to 13.5% of all cardiovascular deaths among 55–64-year-olds worldwide in 2018.
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): the world used 460 million tonnes of plastic in 2019 and recycled 9%
The OECD’s Global Plastics Outlook is the most authoritative single dataset on the plastics economy, showing waste growing faster than recycling.
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Without new policy, plastic waste will almost triple by 2060
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects plastic use rising to 1,231 million tonnes and waste to 1,014 million tonnes by 2060,…
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): full-lifecycle policies could cut plastic leakage 96% by 2040
Modelling shows that ambitious global policies across the whole plastics lifecycle could almost end plastic leakage by 2040; waste management alone cannot.
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Land-to-sea plastic flows are 4–9 times higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assumes
Independent modelling finds far more plastic reaches the sea than OECD scenarios assume, and microplastic levels stay high to 2060 even under ambitious policy.
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Industry data: global plastic production reached 431 million tonnes in 2024
Plastics Europe’s annual count shows global output still rising, with Asia making well over half of the world’s plastic.