Lancet Warns of Threat as Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations Begin

All the nations resume negotiations for a global treaty on plastic on Tuesday. World leaders from across the world will meet in Geneva for the second round of the fifth session of the International Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic.

But simultaneously, a new report published in The Lancet journal warned of its grave threat to human and planetary health, but said that this harm can be mitigated through effective implementation of policies.

“Plastic causes disease and death from infancy to old age and is responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding USD 1.5 trillion annually. These impacts fall disproportionately upon low-income and at-risk populations,” states the report.

The medical journal also launched a health-focused global monitoring system, called the Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastic, to track the manufacturing and use of plastic.

“Continued worsening of plastic-associated harms is not inevitable. Similar to ambient air pollution, lead, mercury, climate change, and chlorofluorocarbons, plastic harms can be mitigated with evidence-based laws and policies that are supported by enabling measures.…and facilitated by effective implementation measures,” the report further said.

Greater than plastic, the ecological threat that concerns most experts and leaders today is microplastics. These are tiny particles of plastic found on sand beds, in oceans, river water, and even inside the human body. They are difficult to deal with because of their tiny size, which makes them almost inseparable from the environment.

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