Plastic Waste and Recycling Workers Face Toxic Exposures from Hazardous Plastic Chemicals
PRESS RELEASE | 28 November 2024
Study Finds Workers in Thailand are Exposed to Phthalates, Toxic Flame Retardants, and Other Harmful Plastic Chemicals
A new study by EARTH Thailand and IPEN finds that plastic waste and recycling workers in Thailand are exposed to greater numbers of and higher levels of hazardous plastic chemicals compared to Thai workers in occupations without significant exposures to plastics. Chemicals assessed in the study include phthalates that are known endocrine disruptors, highly toxic flame retardants, cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other plastic chemicals. The study is being released today ahead of the Plastics Treaty INC-5 negotiations in Busan, Republic of Korea this November 25 to December 1.
In a separate report, IPEN assessed exposures to plastic chemicals among twelve global officials connected to the Plastics Treaty talks. The results show all participants were exposed to substances from each chemical group, with the most exposures coming from phthalates. Overall, the Thai plastic waste and recycling workers had greater numbers of and higher levels of exposures to most chemicals than the global officials.
“All workers deserve a safe and healthy workplace, and our study shows this is especially important for workers involved in plastic recycling and waste disposal,” said Penchom Saetang, Director of Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH). “A Plastics Treaty needs to address the release of toxic chemicals throughout the life cycle of plastics, to protect workers, communities near recycling and disposal facilities, and the environment. In Busan we will urge delegates to ensure that worker protections and protections for human health are at the center of the negotiations.”
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and a participant in the IPEN study asserted, “Plastics and their byproducts are made of chemicals that are seriously harmful to people and the environment. They are present in every ecosystem on the planet, accumulating in food chains, contaminating water, soil, and air, and releasing hazardous substances into the environment. Most plastics derive from fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases throughout their life cycle, exacerbating the multiple planetary crises. Each stage of the plastics life cycle from extraction through disposal, adversely impacts human rights, including the rights to health and to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The negotiation of a new treaty on plastic pollution is a unique opportunity to advance human rights and protect our planet. We must seize this moment and deploy human rights solutions to stop the senseless destruction caused by plastic pollution.”
IPEN member EARTH coordinated with Thai plastic recycling workers, plastic waste workers, and workers in other settings, such as office settings or other settings without occupational exposures to plastic waste to assess their exposures to chemicals in plastics. Participants from the three groups of workers wore wristbands that capture environmental exposures to chemicals for five days. The wristbands were analyzed at an independent lab for 73 chemicals in six chemical groups: PAHs, phthalates, phthalate alternatives, OPFRs, benzotriazole UV stabilizers, and bisphenols and phenols (eg, BPA).
The new study with workers from Thailand finds that:
1. All workers experienced chemical exposures to all six types of chemicals. Each worker was exposed to at least 21 chemicals, and 14 chemicals were found in every wristband tested. The findings overall are consistent with previous studies showing that we are all at risk of exposures to toxic plastic chemicals.
2. Plastic waste and recycling workers were exposed to more chemicals than the office workers. Plastic waste workers were exposed to the highest number of chemicals, but for some chemicals, recycling workers had the greatest number and/or higher levels of exposures.
3. Phthalates, including some that are known endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), were detected at the highest concentrations of all the chemicals. All workers across the three groups were exposed to the phthalate DEHP, with plastic waste handlers exposed to very high levels. DEHP is an EDCbanned in certain products in the EU, US, Australia, and China and some other Asian countries but unregulated in many countries across Africa and Latin America.
4. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are cancer-causing chemicals found in plastics and generated when burning plastics. Both plastic recyclers and plastic waste handlers were exposed to higher concentrations and higher numbers of PAHs than the office workers.
5. Exposures to organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), chemicals linked to neurodevelopmental issues and endocrine disruption, were higher in recycling workers compared to the plastic waste handlers and office workers.
“Most plastic chemicals are not regulated by current international agreements and would not be covered by current global Conventions. Since chemicals from plastics and plastic wastes cross national boundaries, controls on hazardous chemicals should be an essential component of the Plastics Treaty,” said Sara Brosché, IPEN Science Advisor and lead author of the study. “Plastics and plastic chemicals cross national borders without control, so national policies alone cannot solve the plastics crisis. We encourage the Plastics Treaty delegates to follow the science and develop a meaningful agreement to protect the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
Plastics are made with thousands of chemicals, mostly petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels. Many plastic chemicals are known to be hazardous to our health and/or the environment, and many more that have little or no hazard information. Hazardous chemicals are released throughout the life cycle of plastics, including when plastic wastes are handled during waste processing or recycling.
In addition to High Commissioner Volker Türk, the following stakeholders in the Plastics Treaty negotiations are participants in the IPEN study and offered their thoughts:
"It takes a certain level of ambition to cultivate a seemingly impossible future, and as knowledge increases so do expectations. Participation in this study not only brought to the fore the hidden chemicals and potential threats in plastics from routine exposure but more so underscored the urgent need to catalyze the development of a purposeful global Plastics Treaty that addresses plastic pollution and reflects our collective will to amplify action to protect human health and the environment, for those among us and the generations to come". — Ms. Keima Gardiner, Waste Management Specialist, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.
"Exposure to chemicals used in plastics that have long been regulated, like certain phthalates, is a public health concern. These chemicals are known to disrupt our bodies' natural hormones and demonstrate the urgent need for strong global protections for our health and the environment. The Plastics Treaty should be a key global agreement to protect human health and future generations". — Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization.
"The results reveal that my body, like those of all others in the study conducted by IPEN, contains chemicals such as phthalates. These chemicals have entered our bodies without our consent. However, every person has the right to physical integrity. Plastic polluters are invading that right by spreading chemicals that are now found everywhere on the planet. And some of these chemicals are hazardous to human and environmental health. Moreover, some people, because they live in the fencelines of plastic producing facilities or work with plastic wastes, suffer disproportionate chemical burdens on their bodies. Human rights standards offer each individual the guarantee that no one will interfere with their body without their consent. The increasing plastification of our planet by plastic polluters in each stage of the plastic cycle is setting this guarantee at naught. — Dr. Marcos A. Orellana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights.
"The wristband study has been a wake-up call. I see now how much more I can do to eliminate plastic in my daily life, but I am also thinking about how much plastic is surrounding me that I didn't ask for or need". — Ms. Elisa Morgera, Professor of Global Environmental Law, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights.
All people have the right to access to information about the known and suspected health and environmental hazards, harms, and risks caused by chemicals, including additives, used in and released throughout the plastics lifecycle, but there is little transparency about these hazards and risks, so individuals are unable to make informed decisions. While we must acknowledge that the plastic crisis has disproportionate impacts on persons, groups, and Peoples in vulnerable situations, the true cost of plastic production and use is foisted on everyone. In today’s societies, no one can escape: plastic related chemicals are trespassing into our bodies without our knowledge or consent. Those are chemicals linked to health concerns, such as cancer and impacts on reproductive health. Increased oversight, transparency and accountability are imperative to ending efforts to suppress evidence of the harmful impacts of plastics". — Ms. Ana Paula Souza, Human Rights Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"I am grateful to participate in this study, as wearing the IPEN wristband confirmed that we are all exposed to toxic chemicals in plastics, even if invisible, and evidencing how marginalized groups are disproportionately affected. The results of the study are shocking and portray how recycling workers face the highest risks, exposed to chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive health issues. These chemicals invade our bodies, violating our right to a healthy environment. Industries must be held accountable for the harm caused by their products, and more robust frameworks are needed to stop and remediate this pollution. A robust Plastics Treaty is essential to ensure a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. The cross-border nature of this pollution highlights the urgency of global action to uphold human rights everywhere". — Ms. Astrid Puentes Riaño
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment.
Download the report:
https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/thaiwristbands_report_edited_final.pdf
