This is what you should doArticle on FacebookTwitterEmail This article can be shared under the Attribution 4.0 International License. University ETH ZurichResearchers discovered an alarmingly high amount of chemicals that could be dangerously harmful in plastic products every day.Management of these chemicals is limited by a lack of transparency.Plastic is versatile, affordable, and extremely popular. Worldwide, plastic is produced at a staggering 350 million tonnes per year (or 386 million US tones). Plastics can release a wide range of chemicals during their lifetimes, including substances that could pose a serious risk to the environment and people. Only a fraction of the chemicals in plastic are known to be public or extensively studied.Stefanie Hellweg, professor at ETH Zurich of ecological systems design, led a team of researchers that has created a database of all plastic monomers, additives and processing aids used in the production and sale of plastics. They have also categorised them based on their usage patterns and potential hazards.Environmental Science & Technology offers an interesting, but not surprising insight into the world that chemicals are deliberately added to plastics.The team discovered around 10,500 chemicals in plastic. Many of these chemicals are found in packaging (2.489), textiles (2.429) and food-contact applications (2.109). Some are for toys (522), and medical devices including masks (247).Researchers identified 10,500 substances and classified 2,480 substances (24%) as potential concerns.This means that nearly 25% of plastic chemicals are either toxic, unstable, accumulate in organisms or highly toxic. Helene Wiesinger is a doctoral student at Chair of Ecological Systems Design. She was the lead author of the study. Half of these chemicals are produced in high volumes in the US or EU.Wiesinger continues, "It is striking that many questionable substances are not regulated or are poorly described." 53% of the potential danger substances are not regulated in either the US, Japan, or the EU. Surprisingly, 901 hazardous substances have been approved for use in food contact materials in these areas. Scientific studies have not been completed on approximately 10% of the substances that are of concern.Plastics are organic polymers made from repeating monomer units. The polymer matrix can be given desired properties by a variety of additives such as flame retardants, plasticizers, antioxidants and plasticizers. As processing aids in the production process, catalysts, solvents, and other chemicals can also be used.Wiesinger says that until now, researchers, industry, regulators and others have focused mainly on the few dangerous chemicals found in plastics. Plastic packaging is now a major source of organic contamination in foods, and phthalate plasticizers as well as brominated flame retardants can be found in indoor dust and indoor air. Studies in the past have shown that plastic chemicals are more hazardous than ever.The researchers were nevertheless surprised by the results. Zhanyun Zhang, senior scientist in Hellwegs' group, said that the unexpectedly high level of substances of potential concern was alarming. These substances can cause adverse effects on workers' health and the environment. Recycling processes can be affected by problematic chemicals, as well as the quality and safety of recycled plastics.Wang warns that plastics may contain more chemicals than necessary. Recorded hazards data are often scattered and limited. According to him, the lack of hazard classifications meant that we could not categorize 4,100 substances (or 39%) of the substances we identified.Researchers identified two main problems: lack of transparency in chemical compounds in plastics and dispersed data silos. Over two-and-a-half years of detective work saw them search through more than 200 publicly available data sources from industry, government, and authorities. They found 60 sources that contained sufficient information on intentionally added substances in plastics.Multiple critical gaps in data and knowledge were identified, especially regarding the substance and its actual uses. They claim that this ultimately makes it difficult for consumers to choose safe plastic products.Wiesinger and Wang want to create a circular economy that is sustainable. They believe there is a dire need for global chemical management. Such a system must be transparent, independent and have full oversight of all hazardous substances. According to the researchers, it is essential that reliable information be available and accessible easily.Source: Michael Keller, ETH Zurich
