HEALTH AFFECTS
OF
PLASTICS ON HUMANS
In an early post I mentioned that we would discuss the affects
that plastics have on humans but since this blog is mainly to talk about the
influence that plastic pollution has on the oceans and marine life I will only
address the subject briefly. Worth noting though is that there is a growing body of literature that
suggests that the chemicals that are used in the manufacturing process of
plastics are toxic.
A process known as Biomonitoring (“measures concentrations of environmental contaminants in human tissue”) has shown that “phthalates and BPA, as well as other additives in plastics and their metabolites, are present in the human population and that these present a potential health risks to humans. “Body burdens of chemicals that are used in plastic manufacturing have also been correlated with adverse effects in the human population, including reproductive abnormalities" (e.g. Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008; Land et al. 2008). In addition there is some evidence of an association “ between urinary concentrations of some phthalate metabolites and biological outcomes (Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008) such as, “anogenital distance, penile width and testicular decent in male offspring (Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008). Adults can also be affected negatively by phthalate metabolites in semen quality and free testosterone levels .
A process known as Biomonitoring (“measures concentrations of environmental contaminants in human tissue”) has shown that “phthalates and BPA, as well as other additives in plastics and their metabolites, are present in the human population and that these present a potential health risks to humans. “Body burdens of chemicals that are used in plastic manufacturing have also been correlated with adverse effects in the human population, including reproductive abnormalities" (e.g. Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008; Land et al. 2008). In addition there is some evidence of an association “ between urinary concentrations of some phthalate metabolites and biological outcomes (Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008) such as, “anogenital distance, penile width and testicular decent in male offspring (Swan et al. 2005; Swan 2008). Adults can also be affected negatively by phthalate metabolites in semen quality and free testosterone levels .
When
it comes BPA urine levels have shown a "significant relationship between urine levels of BPA and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and abnormalities in liver enzymes"(Stahlhut et al.
(2009). It is worth noting however, that the majority of the studies
have used “laboratory animals as model organisms” (Talsness et al.2009), to
determine the “potential adverse health effects of these chemicals” (Talsness
et al.,2009), that “the half-life of BPA is longer than previously
estimated, and the very high exposure of premature infants in neonatal
intensive-care units to both BPA and phthalates is of great concern” (Calafat et al.
2009). For additional information on the affects of plastics you can visit the follolwing web-site:
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