Abstract
In early March 2022, at the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), a decision was made to begin negotiations on a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution. The UNEA resolution notes "the importance of cooperation, coordination and complementarity (…) to prevent plastic pollution and its related risks to human health and adverse effects on human wellbeing and the environment".1 The emphasis of the Resolution upon the impacts of plastics pollution on human health gives expression to the rapidly expanding body of research on the various risks that the full plastics life cycle poses to human health. The range of potential negative health outcomes is diverse, and includes cancers, reproductive and developmental issues, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.2 The potential impact of the plastics life cycle on health is directly relevant to the right to health. While plastics can threaten the right to life, not all adverse health outcomes from plastics are fatal. The threshold at which plastics threaten the enjoyment of the right to health is lower than that at which they threaten enjoyment of the right to life.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Plastics |
Editors | Elizabeth A. Kirk, Naporn Popattanachai, Richard A. Barnes, Eva R. van der Marel |
Place of Publication | Cheltenham |
Number of pages | 21 |
Publication status | Published - 31 Oct 2024 |
Keywords
- plastics
- plastics pollution
- plastics life cycle
- right to health