By Abbas Nazil
A new report published in The Lancet warns that plastic pollution poses a grave and growing danger to human and planetary health, urging immediate international action as UN Member States gather in Geneva, Switzerland, for the final round of negotiations on a global plastics treaty.
The study, co-authored by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Microplastics team, provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of how plastics affect human health across their full life cycle.
It also coincides with the launch of a new independent monitoring initiative, the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics, which will track key indicators to measure the health impacts of plastics globally.
An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet.
Micro- and nano-plastic particles, along with toxic chemicals associated with plastic production and degradation, have been detected in some of the most remote parts of the environment, as well as in marine life, terrestrial animals, and human bodies.
The report highlights that exposure to plastics can affect people from infancy to old age and imposes significant health-related economic costs on society.
Despite the severity of the issue, the report stresses that worsening impacts are not inevitable.
It calls on policymakers attending the Geneva negotiations, which run from August 5 to 14, 2025, to adopt an ambitious and binding international agreement addressing the entire plastic life cycle, from production to disposal, including marine pollution.
The newly launched Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics is modeled after the successful Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.
It will compile and regularly publish data on four domains: production and emissions, exposures, health impacts, and interventions and engagement.
This information will be geographically and temporally representative, enabling governments, researchers, and civil society to track progress toward reducing exposure and mitigating harm.
Lead author Professor Philip Landrigan of Boston College emphasized that the impacts of plastic pollution fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, particularly infants and children, and that the resulting economic costs are immense.
He urged global leaders to seize the opportunity to find common ground and establish effective cooperation against the crisis.
The report’s development was funded primarily by the Minderoo Foundation, with additional contributions from Boston College, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Heidelberg University, and other partners.
The authors note that none of the funding bodies influenced the writing or publication of the findings.
By combining urgent scientific evidence with a new data-driven monitoring mechanism, the report aims to arm policymakers with the tools needed to enact meaningful measures, signaling a critical moment in the fight against plastic pollution as the world watches the outcome of the Geneva talks.
