The Plastic impact on global health is put in check by a new Lancet Countdown indicator.

Plastic has a significant impact on human health, environment and climate. Plastic pollution, in particular, threatens ecosystems, contaminates water and soil and can have serious consequences on human health in any stage of life. Furthermore, plastic production, derived largely from fossil fuels, contributes strongly to increase greenhouse gas emissions. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change is a scientific journal published annually aimed at collecting projects and technical insights of great consistency to assess the state of health of the environment under the effect of climate change and its repercussions on human communities and other living beings, in line with Paris Agreement's criteria.

This year's Countdown project, a partnership among the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (Monaco Scientific Centre), March Foundation, Boston College, Minderoo Foundation, Woods Hole Oceanographic Foundation and Heidelberg University, is focused on how each phase of plastics' life cycle impacts the environment, verifying progress and monitoring evolution from a medical and health point of view. In fact, it is estimated that the annual economic losses linked to pathologies resulting from contact with with harmful plastics is greater than 1.5 trillion dollars per year. A real plague which will hinder any sustainable future for our Planet, if we do not act promptly. The Lancet Countdown publication is therefore a crucial science-based periodic report, grounded on a set of time and geographic indicators, addressed to policy makers and global leaders. The final mission is therefore to raise awareness and enable responsible and thoughtful decisions to be made both within 'top-down' and 'bottom up governance.

Photo >> According to 1.7 million tonnes of this is then transported to the ocean: 1.4 million tonnes from rivers, and 0.3 million tonnes from coastlines © Wix for MonacoEcoArt

In particular, there are four highlights of the ongoing project:

1- Each stage of a plastic product life cycle, from its initial development to its final removal from the market (recycling, landfilling, incineration, or open burning), emits a certain amount of dangerous substances (e.g.: particulate; air, water and soil pollutant, etc.) : quantifying them is prior.

2- Humans and other living beings, integral part of any environment, are constantly exposed to biological concentrations of plastics and their chemical components in the form of micro (generally smaller than 5 millimetres) and nano - MNP (less than 1 micrometer, that is 1000 nanometers) plastics: thus, it is crucial detecting them both in edible and drinkable products as well as in organic elements of the human body.

3- The plastic element, of whatever size (macro, micro or nano), comes into contact with the surrounding environment releasing pollutants: determining the corresponding health risk and climate-change potential is essential.

4- The knowledge of all activities which are potentially threatening human and living beings health can allow us to improve the production processes and the subsequent use and disposal of plastics: monitoring and preventing plastic pollution through climate mitigation, governmental actions, private-public cooperation, educational programmes and financial mechanisms to promote safer alternatives to fossil-fuel plastics is vital.

A multilateral coordination of dedicated Working Groups are being focusing on each item, on the basis of a set of traceable and reliable indicators together with a multidisciplinary approach which combines data collection and analysis with summary consistent reports.

Photo >> Cottom JW, Cook E, Velis CA. A local-to-global emissions inventory of macro-plastic pollution. Nature 2024; 633: 101–8 © The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, 2025 edition

The Lancet Countdown's project takes on an even more important meaning, if we consider that 8 billion Mt of plastic pollute Planet Earth, still insufficiently managed with less than 10% recycled material, in view of an exponential increase, three times as much by 2060. The impact on the environment is particularly polluting, given that 98% 0f plastics are made from fossil sources, thus not biodegradable. Despite the apparent economic advantage of plastic for its ductility and versatility, the hidden costs, at governmental and social level, are much more than you imagine. Not by chance, the Global Plastics Treaty was established in 2022 by United Nations Member States as a binding instrument to fight against plastic pollution through the whole life cycle.

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics is therefore launching a reliable monitoring tool able to mitigate the negative impacts of plastics while mitigating the hazardous effects on human and planetary health. The Principality of Monaco maintains a primary role in the project, as reaffirmed by a two-day multidisciplinary meeting held in Monaco in October 2024 to gather twenty-three experts in various fields.

Photo >> Stegmann P, Daioglou V, Londo M, van Vuuren DP, Junginger M. Plastic futures and their CO2 emissions. Nature 2022; 612: 272–6 © The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, 2025 edition

The contribution of science in containing plastic pollution worldwide is decisive to offer decision makers and regulatory-framework officers to adopt cost-effective regulations and policies based on consistent data base and technical reports like the Lancet Countdown's indicator made deliberately accessible to the public in order to provide an up-dated multilevel parameter (international, regional, national, sub-national and local) to become aware of the state of health of the Planet and act accordingly, considering that public health directly affects the quality of our daily life. ***

✒️ Maurice Abbati

• Strategic Communication Specialist, Editor in Chief, Journalist, Executive.

• Lecturer and Author in English in the field of Environmental Communication to foster Circular and Blue Economy.