Minderoo welcomes the elevation of plastic as a threat to humanity alongside climate change
One of the world’s most prestigious and oldest peer-reviewed medical journals, The Lancet, has launched a global monitoring system for the impact of plastics on human health.
The launch of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics comes as delegates gather in Geneva, Switzerland, for the resumed fifth session of negotiations toward a Global Plastics Treaty (INC-5.2).
With principal funding from Minderoo Foundation in collaboration with Boston College, the University of Heidelberg and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco as well as other collaborators, the new initiative is inspired by The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and will identify and regularly report on a suite of scientific indicators across all stages of the plastic life cycle.
“The Lancet’s decision to elevate plastic pollution as a threat to humanity is a globally significant moment that negotiators in Geneva cannot ignore as they decide whether the Global Plastics Treaty will protect future generations from the scourge of plastic pollution,” Professor Sarah Dunlop, Director of Plastics and Human Health at Minderoo Foundation, said.
“Toxic chemicals in everyday plastic items leach into our bodies, and harm human health at every stage of our lives. The evidence for this harm is consistent and overwhelming, and the Global Plastics Treaty provides an opportunity for regulation to address this.”
The launch of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastic coincides with the start of INC-5.2 on Tuesday, 5 August in Geneva and is a clarion call for negotiators on the undeniable links between health harms and plastic.
The Countdown will provide ongoing independent data to inform decision-makers.
“Decision-makers around the world will need access to the best available current scientific evidence to guide the implementation and development of this important treaty in the months and years to come,” Margaret Spring, co-lead of one of the working groups within the new Lancet Countdown, said.
“Countdown reports will offer updated, robust, independent, and accessible data sources that can help to inform development of effective policies addressing plastic pollution at the international, regional, national, sub-national and local levels.”
The Lancet Countdown will develop and track indicators across four (4) domains: Production and Emissions, Exposures, Health Impacts, and Interventions and Engagement.
“Our knowledge of the impacts of plastic chemicals on human health is growing all the time and signals a need for immediate action. In 2023, the Minderoo Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health concluded that plastics endanger human health at every stage of their life cycle – in production, use, and disposal,” Professor Dunlop said.
“This new report will develop health indicators to monitor critical information that has emerged in the short time since, including more evidence of the range of harms associated with a number of toxic groups of chemicals that are commonly used in the plastic products we encounter every day.”
To learn more about Minderoo Foundation’s work in changing plastic for good and priorities at INC-5.2 work visit: https://www.globalplastictreaty.com/
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