Hazardous Chemicals Found in Majority of Everyday Plastics, New Report Says

A new investigation released by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a London-based nonprofit, examined five categories of plastics that appear in food packaging, clothing, toys, household items and medical or hygiene products. The analysis concluded that roughly 93 % of known plastic chemicals used in these products pose a high risk to human health. Specific results include:

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• 92 % of chemicals in food-contact plastics are high-risk.

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• 89 % of children’s toys contain high-risk chemicals.

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• 93 % of textiles and clothing are made with dangerous chemicals.

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• 92 % of common household products—such as water bottles, kitchenware, gardening tools and office supplies—contain high-risk chemicals.

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• 93 % of hygiene and medical plastics (e.g., dental floss, tampons, pill casings, syringes) also contain dangerous chemicals.

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The report notes that of the 3,552 chemicals identified in everyday plastics, nearly 80 % lack sufficient toxicity or exposure data, leaving a large knowledge gap about potential harms.

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The study links the high-risk chemicals to cancer, genetic mutations, endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity and organ damage. Researchers emphasize that many of these substances are persistent, bio-accumulative and mobile, allowing them to build up in the body and spread through water supplies. More than half of the identified high-risk chemicals are not regulated by major jurisdictions, and the United States has not ratified several international conventions that could provide additional safeguards.

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The American Chemistry Council (ACC), representing chemical manufacturers, cautioned that the EJF report should be viewed with “considerable caution.” ACC’s vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, Kimberly Wise White, said the analysis omits key data sources such as the International Council of Chemical Associations’ additives database and fails to incorporate U.S.

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Pediatrician Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College, described the findings as a wake-up call, noting that the lack of data on most plastic chemicals makes it impossible to gauge their true impact on public health.

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• “We looked at what these plastic chemicals can do to the body along with exposure levels to calculate overall health risk,” — Naima Fenderl

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• “All of a sudden people can get a sense of immediacy about how these plastics are infiltrating their lives in ways that they didn’t realize,” — Dr. Philip Landrigan

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• “We simply do not have a clue what harm those chemicals might be causing us and our kids,” — Dr. Philip Landrigan

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