Silent Crisis: Impact of Plastics on Human Health Could Double by 2040. JAN 27, 2026

Photo Unsplash by Antoine Giret

Silent Crisis: Impact of Plastics on Human Health Could Double by 2040

Paris – The production, use, and disposal of plastics represent a growing threat to human health and could cause a dramatic increase in illness and death in the coming decades if urgent structural changes are not made to the global consumption model. This warning comes from a new scientific study published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health.

The research, conducted by scientists from the United Kingdom and France, is the first to globally estimate the lifecycle impacts of plastics on human health, considering everything from oil and gas extraction to the final disposal of waste in landfills and natural environments.

Using the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) indicator—which measures years lost due to premature death or living with disease—researchers estimate that the damage associated with plastic could more than double: from 2.1 million years of life lost in 2016 to 4.5 million in 2040, if the world maintains its current production rate.

According to the study, the main impact factor is the contribution of the plastics industry to global warming, followed by air pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals. The authors emphasize that the numbers are still conservative, as they do not include widely discussed effects such as the presence of microplastics in the human body or the migration of chemicals from packaging to food.

“We are facing a clear underestimation of the real risks,” stated researcher Megan Deeney, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. For her, plastic should be treated as a central public health problem, and not just as a waste management issue.

From Oil to Trash: A Harmful Cycle

The study illustrates the problem using an everyday item: the plastic water bottle. More than 90% of plastics begin their journey in the extraction of fossil fuels. These materials undergo complex and highly polluting industrial processes until they are transformed into products such as PET, widely used in packaging.

In regions like the Louisiana petrochemical corridor in the United States — known as "Cancer Alley" — entire communities live with high rates of diseases associated with industrial pollution. After use, most plastic products are not recycled and end up in landfills, where they can take centuries to decompose, releasing toxic substances into the soil, water, and air.

Recycling is not enough.

The researchers also analyzed alternative scenarios and reached a clear conclusion: recycling alone has a limited impact on reducing health damage. The most effective strategy is to drastically reduce the production of plastics considered unnecessary, especially single-use ones.

This warning gains even more weight at a time of political impasse. Negotiations for an international treaty against plastic pollution failed last August after resistance from oil-producing countries. Even so, the authors emphasize that governments can—and should—act at the national level.

“The plastic crisis is global, but the responses can begin now, in every country,” said Deeney. “It’s about protecting human health and the ecosystems we depend on.”

The Green Amazon News – International

This text was compiled using public data, scientific reports, and information from meteorological institutions.

The Green Amazon News — All rights reserved.

The Green Amazon News Editorial Team