Children's Health Defense By
Exposure to just four types of plastic costs the U.S. healthcare system nearly $250 billion per year, according to a study in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. The majority of adverse health effects involved the endocrine system, but investigators also found cancer, childhood development delays and IQ deficits.
Illnesses caused by plastics and their chemical ingredients cost the U.S. healthcare system $249 billion per year, or 1.2% of gross domestic product, according to a study in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.
Most of the harm came from ingesting just three plastics in contaminated foods and beverages. The most significant effects were related to the endocrine system.
The study’s goal was to estimate the health risks of these materials from products with high human exposure — plastics ingested or encountered through foods, drinks and objects around us.
Understanding these associations, the authors said, will lead to strategies for reducing their harmful effects.
Singling out the top four culprits
Plastics belong to a broad chemical class known as polymers — long-chain molecules consisting of hundreds or thousands of repeating chemical units, or monomers. In chemical jargon, mono means “one” and poly means “many.”
Many polymers exist in nature. For example, starches and cellulose are made of repeating sugar monomers, but the authors of the study considered only those that were completely or partially synthetic.
Researchers performed a literature search on four general categories of synthetic or semi-synthetic plastics with confirmed or suspected ill effects on health:
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a family of more than 200 compounds used mostly as flame retardants but also found in textiles, plastics, wire insulation and automobiles. PBDEs have been linked to endocrine disruption leading to fertility issues and delayed neurodevelopment in children.
- Phthalate “plasticizers” or chemicals that make plastics more durable are found in hundreds of products, including vinyl flooring, lubricants and personal-care products. Phthalates do not persist in the body but their short stay is long enough to interfere with endocrine-related events associated with normal pregnancy, child growth and development.
- Bisphenols, including bisphenol A, are found in many food-packaging plastics and coatings, for example, plastic wraps and water bottles, from where they leach into foods. Bisphenols have been associated with hormonal, neurological, liver and reproductive problems. The food industry has searched for replacements for bisphenol A but the alternative, bisphenol S, is a possible carcinogen.
- Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are another very large class of plastics used since the 1950s to prevent food from sticking to packaging or cookware. Although these materials are found in cars, construction materials and electronics, harmful human exposure occurs mainly by consuming contaminated foods and beverages. PFAS have been associated with hormonal and immune dysfunction, obesity and certain cancers that affect women…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… (childrenshealthdefense.org)
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