IPEN

A new study by an international team of scientists and civil society experts published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Emerging Contaminants shows that free-range eggs from five continents contain some of the world’s highest levels of highly toxic chemicals, including substances banned globally and others under consideration for global regulations. Brominated flame retardants and brominated dioxins, chemicals found in the eggs, are linked to serious health impacts, including endocrine disruption, reproductive toxicity, neurodevelopmental impairment, damage to the immune system, and cancer. 

“Our results clearly demonstrate that brominated dioxins and flame retardants are a global threat to human health and the environment. The evidence is overwhelming – brominated and mixed brominated-chlorinated dioxins must urgently be listed under the Stockholm Convention, and the use of brominated flame retardants must be phased out, including recycling of waste containing these chemicals,” said lead author Jindrich Petrlik of Arnika and IPEN. The Stockholm Convention POPs Review Committee (POPRC) is meeting in Rome next Monday, September 29 through October 3 and will discuss the global risks from brominated dioxins.  

The study findings reveal that eggs near e-waste sites, dumpsites, and waste incinerators are severely contaminated with brominated dioxins (PBDD/Fs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), making them a major source of human exposure to these toxic chemicals. Among the brominated flame retardants found by the study are polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), chemicals banned globally by the Stockholm Convention. These BFRs are common in plastic e-waste and released when plastic is burned in dumpsites or incinerators, resulting in environmental contamination that can be picked up by free-range chickens and transferred to their eggs. 

In a landmark case initiated by IPEN member Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), a Sri Lankan court has ordered owner groups of the X-Press Pearl container ship to pay a minimum $1 billion USD compensation to the country for the damage and ongoing environmental costs linked to the massive spill of plastic pellets and toxic chemicals after an explosion on the ship led to it sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka in 2021.

A UN report called the incident the single largest plastic spill in history and the event has come to epitomize the ongoing global problem of spilled plastic pellets as “the oil spills of our time.” Plastics are made from fossil fuels and chemicals and when massive spills occur, they leave a wake of threats to the environment and health from the hazardous chemicals found in plastics.

“Sri Lanka took an important step with this judgement that holds polluters responsible for the damage they cause,” said Hemantha Withanage, co-founder of CEJ. “But we need this plastic problem addressed at the root cause: plastic overproduction and the use of toxic chemicals in plastics. A meaningful Plastics Treaty needs to be adopted to stop the massive production of toxic plastics that threaten the global environment and the human right to a healthy environment.” The Plastics Treaty negotiations resume in Geneva this August 5-14.

An editorial published today in the World Health Organization (WHO) Bulletin co-authored by IPEN with leading health experts underscores threats to human health from chemicals in plastics, including PFAS ‘forever chemicals,’ bisphenols, phthalates, and many other hazardous substances. Exposure to these endocrine disrupting chemicals in plastics can interfere with our bodies’ natural hormone systems and increase the risk of numerous chronic diseases, including cancer, neurodevelopmental harm, and infertility, all of which are increasing.

The experts’ editorial also notes the growing evidence showing that microplastics may increase the risk of respiratory, reproductive, and gastrointestinal harm and calls on delegates to the Plastics Treaty negotiations, which resume in Geneva this August, to center protections for human health and the environment in the international agreement.  They also warn that projections suggest that plastic production could grow 300 percent by 2060.

“The litmus test for the Plastics Treaty is whether it will protect human health and the environment from toxic plastic chemicals, like phthalates, which are called “the everywhere and everyone chemicals” because they contaminate our bodies and the environment so pervasively,” said Bjorn Beeler, IPEN International Coordinator and a co-author of the editorial. “More plastic production means more pollution. That’s why the Treaty also needs to include provisions to cap and reduce plastic production, and not rely on false promises about failed solutions, like plastic recycling.”

“Safeguarding the human rights of present and future generations, particularly the rights of Indigenous Peoples who are most directly harmed by the plastics crisis, demands that the international community take strong, meaningful action. We need a human rights and human health focused Plastics Treaty to end the threats plastics pose to the Arctic and to healthy environments around the world,” said Pamela Miller, IPEN Co-chair and Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT). “Decades of experience show that very little plastic is ever recycled, and plastic recycling simply spreads toxic chemicals. We need real solutions that put our health first.”