Image: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., participate in a discussion to announce microplastics and pharmaceuticals will be listed as contaminants in drinking water, at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2026.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Mike Ludwig of Truthout reports: “If you’ve ever looked at a disposable bottle of water with suspicion before tossing it into a bin, you’re far from alone. On August 8, leading scientists across globe published an editorial in The Lancet warning there is “strong evidence” that plastics harm human health and natural ecosystems at every stage of production and consumption — from fracking for the fossil fuels used to make plastics, to the microplastics leaching into our bodies and the environment. Plastic waste is projected to triple by 2060 if governments fail to act.

Much of that harm is traced back to more than 16,000 chemicals used in plastic production. Hazardous plastic chemicals include known carcinogens, neurotoxicants, and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, brominated flame retardants, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of highly persistence chemicals linked to a range of health harms, according to The Lancet…”

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