Plastics, ubiquitous and convenient, have long enjoyed widespread usage owing to their versatility. From simple flexible tubes to sophisticated laptops, these materials have unparalleled utility. But this convenience comes thanks to toxic additives and chemicals, a persistent environmental and health challenge. Additives leach from intact products, or as microplastics, contaminating the human body. Plastic pollution, therefore, is also chemical pollution.
Take Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, or EDCs, a generic name for chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system. This causes hormonal systems to become dysfunctional, causing illnesses such as developmental disorders, thyroid disorders, infertility, and sleep disorders, among others. Scarily, EDCs mimic hormones sending the wrong signals to tissues and organ systems — like a hostile takeover of the human body. EDCs, like bisphenols found in everyday items such as reusable water bottles, food can linings, and medical equipment, can mimic hormones, leading to a cascade of adverse effects.
Within synthetic furnishings and electronic components are embedded brominated flame retardants (BFRs), designed to prevent fires even after long hours of usage and heating up. These are linked to profound impacts on reproductive health and cognitive development in children, as we learn from a detailed review by the Endocrine Society and the International POPs Elimination Network. Meanwhile, the inclusion of phthalates to impart flexibility to certain plastic products poses grave health risks. A February 2024 report by Toxic Links, a non-profit, found that, of the items it examined in India, 86% of toys and 67% of plastics that come in contact with food were contaminated with phthalates.
Concerns are compounded at the end of a plastic product’s lifecycle. Despite recycling efforts, a significant proportion of the toxic payload is often retained in the new avatars. Recycling processes weaken polymer bonding, facilitating chemical leaching. Furthermore, direct exposure incidents abound, such as when young children chew on flexi toys and teethers.
In response, the recently concluded fourth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee to advance a plastics treaty (INC-4) in Ottawa, leached of political will, failed to come up with even the semblance of an ambitious attempt at protecting human and planetary health. A bespoke strategy is required for India to navigate this terrain, mostly on its own.
India’s consumer affairs ministry must enable interested persons to easily learn of every ingredient in a product and its packaging. It can use barcodes on items so the data are detailed and readable. This could become both a disincentive for manufacturers to use these chemicals and a tool for consumers to seek safer alternatives.
Transitioning away from hazardous additives demands substantial investment in research and development, bolstered by financial incentives and green procurement policies. The next step is the extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime, which should be expanded in the coming few years to phase out additives and other harmful chemicals.
Testing is expensive but essential. Establishing robust testing regimes with public data sharing, under the Central Pollution Control Board and the Bureau of Indian Standards, will enable adherence to evolving scientific standards and hold accountable both domestic manufacturers and importers of non-compliant goods. Most recycling still takes place in the informal sector, because of expensive pollution control and costly real estate. A majority of the recyclers cannot afford increasingly gentrified industrial areas. Instead of vilifying them, enabling their long-term compliance to improved standards can play a pivotal role.
In charting this course, India must confront the perils posed by plastics head-on. While the current state of play suggests eliminating plastics will prove elusive in the medium term, mitigating toxicity can’t wait for global consensus.
Bharati Chaturvedi is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group. The views expressed are personal
Bharati Chaturvedi is an environmentalist and writer. She is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group. ...view detail
Action on toxic plastics can’t wait for consensus
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05.05.2024
Plastics, ubiquitous and convenient, have long enjoyed widespread usage owing to their versatility. From simple flexible tubes to sophisticated laptops, these materials have unparalleled utility. But this convenience comes thanks to toxic additives and chemicals, a persistent environmental and health challenge. Additives leach from intact products, or as microplastics, contaminating the human body. Plastic pollution, therefore, is also chemical pollution.
Take Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, or EDCs, a generic name for chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system. This causes hormonal systems to become dysfunctional, causing illnesses such as developmental disorders, thyroid disorders, infertility, and sleep disorders, among others. Scarily, EDCs mimic hormones sending the wrong signals to tissues and organ systems — like a hostile takeover of the human body. EDCs, like bisphenols found in everyday items such as reusable water bottles, food can linings, and medical equipment, can mimic hormones, leading to a cascade of adverse effects.
Within synthetic furnishings........
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