The final global plastics treaty, which stalled during talks last week, needs to address chemicals used throughout the life cycle of plastics, some of which significantly reduce our fertility and impair our health, in order to truly confront the full scope of the crisis.
Plastic pollution is one of our most intractable environmental challenges, disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities in the Global South and contributing to climate change. As our thirst for single-use plastics drives up the demand for fossil fuels, most non-recyclable plastic products are being landfilled or incinerated, further contributing to carbon emissions. Most of the plastic ever produced is still with us, continually degrading into micro and nano-sized particles that are nearly impossible to remove from the environment, and as we now know, even persisting in our bodies.
The global plastics treaty currently being negotiated by 175 countries via the United Nations Environment Programme is a pivotal and possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address this crisis. Last week the fifth round of negotiations ended in a stalemate, with a sixth round planned for 2025. The lack of consensus to date is largely due to failure to agree on regulation of plastic chemicals and production caps. While nearly 100 countries (the “high ambition countries”) support production limits and chemical regulation, fossil fuel dependent countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia are resisting these measures and instead pushing for a focus on plastic waste.
Just days after the fifth treaty meeting ended without consensus, Coca-Cola, one of the largest plastic producers on Earth, abandoned previously announced commitments to reducing plastic production. The treaty stalemate and Coca-Cola’s announcement reflect the powerful business interests driving this crisis and the inability of industry and oil-producing countries to prioritize the well-being of global citizens and planetary health above short-term gains.
And while some regard the treaty as solely a curb on the pollution choking beaches and lakes, planetary health and our very survival are at stake. The longer we delay action, the farther we are kicking the proverbial plastic bottle down the road as our health — including our fertility — suffers greatly.
The entire plastic life cycle harms our health
A 2024 study from Europe estimates that approximately 16,000 chemicals play a role in the life cycle of plastic production. These include both intentionally and unintentionally added substances. Very few have been tested and data on their hazard to human and environmental health is sparse. In addition, we now know that plastic materials degrade into micro and nano-plastics, which can carry a complex chemical cocktail into hearts, lungs, placentas and other organs. This cocktail is made up of the additives, fillers and dyes from which plastics are manufactured. But they can also act as sponges for the diverse pollutants that are already present in our rivers, oceans, soils and atmosphere. Many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors, meaning they can mimic or interfere with the hormones responsible for promoting growth, maturation, reproduction and many other essential functions that allow life – human and non-human – to persist.
Common plasticizers that are used to improve the function of plastics, such as phthalates and bisphenols, have long been known to interfere with hormones and to throw the endocrine system into disarray. And they can do this at startlingly low concentrations, equivalent to a mere drop of chemical in several Olympic-sized swimming pools. The use of these chemicals increases as plastic production rises, which is set to triple by 2060 under what is often referred to as a “business-as-usual” approach.
Why is this concerning? Our endocrine system supports the most sensitive marker of health across all organisms, including humans: the ability to reproduce. The increase in environmental chemicals, such as the endocrine disruptors that are associated with plastic production, pose unprecedented threats to reproductive health. This is particularly true when considering the concurrent impact of ongoing climate change, which can exacerbate the impacts of commonly used plastic chemicals like phthalates and bisphenols. These toxics alter hormone signaling, leading to declining sperm counts in men and impaired ovarian function in women. They are widely present in products that we have come to rely on daily.
We are already feeling the effects: recently the cost of healthcare associated with plastic chemical-exposure due to endocrine disruption was estimated to be $250 billion annually in the U.S.
This is not just a human crisis, as fertility declines are observed in wildlife as well. The presence of these toxic plastic-associated chemicals in our foods, clothing, cleaning products, cosmetics, household products such as food storage containers, carpeting, paint and even in our car tires, not only undermines reproductive capacity but can trigger intergenerational effects, compounding reproductive challenges in our children and grandchildren.
A sustainable planet for future generations
In addition to reducing the production of plastics, the treaty should reduce not only the number but the toxicity of the chemicals used to manufacture plastics. The recent failure of consensus at the global plastics treaty negotiations, in large part due to disagreements over reducing production and chemical regulation, means that these problems will persist, at least in the near term. However, a majority of highly motivated countries who understand the gravity of this crisis can shape a more sustainable, healthy future.
The way forward is to adopt the goals of the nearly 100 high ambition countries and regions that support action to reduce plastic production and chemical use. Joining forces with delegates from Mexico, Panama, Rwanda, France, the European Union and Pacific Island nations, and more than 90 others who have recognized the urgency of this problem, will lead us to a sustainable future and a planet that we will be proud to pass on to future generations.