Beginning in the womb, children are exposed to toxic chemicals used in plastics as well as microplastic particles. Researchers have found these chemicals and particles in the human placenta, umbilical cord blood, newborns’ first stool, and breast milk. They pass through the placenta during pregnancy into the fetus and can permeate the barrier protecting the brain — especially since this “blood-brain barrier” is not yet fully developed.
Scientists with Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neuro-Development Risks) detail the increasing evidence of harm in a new article in Environment International, “Protecting the Developing Brains of Children from Plastics-Derived Chemicals and Microplastic Particles.”
The authors of the paper, including myself, are calling for urgent action from all levels of government and from companies to reduce the production, use, and toxicity of plastics. I joined two of the study’s other authors to discuss highlights of these findings in a recent CHE Alaska webinar.
Strong science documents harms
More than 16,500 chemicals are added to plastics, as fillers, plasticizers, colorants, stabilizers, lubricants, foaming agents, flame retardants, and antistatic agents. Many of these additives are toxic, and some are neurotoxic. This includes three classes of chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system and have substantial evidence of harm to brain development: phthalates, bisphenols, and brominated or chlorinated flame retardants.
Decades of strong evidence shows that certain chemicals in plastics can harm children’s brains and contribute to neurodevelopmental conditions including autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities. A growing number of new studies are finding that microplastics particles can enter, irritate, and inflame our cells, and may also impact the developing brain and affect learning and memory.
One in six children in the U.S. are diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions, with children living in poverty and children of color most affected.
A rapidly growing global problem
Plastics are made from oil, natural gas, and coal. Global plastics production doubled from 2000 to 2019. Plastic waste more than doubled during the same period. The U.S. generates more plastic waste per capita than any other country, with packaging making up about 40 percent of all plastic waste. Around the world, only about nine percent of plastic waste is recycled.
Microplastics and toxic chemicals leach from plastic packaging, food processing equipment, kitchenware, carpets, flooring, electronics, water bottles, and other products, into food, water, air, dust, and soil.
People are exposed especially by ingesting contaminated food and water and inhaling contaminated air and dust. Infants are also exposed from breastmilk and formula.
Children are especially at risk
Children are more highly exposed to microplastics and chemical additives and suffer greater harm than adults. More than 90% of 2- to 5-year-olds in the U.S. have multiple neurotoxic plastic chemicals in their bodies, including newer “replacement” plasticizers. This is because pound for pound, children:
- Consume seven times more water than adults in their first six months
- Consume 3-4 times more food from ages 1-5 than adults
- Breathe twice as much air as adults
In addition, children have differences in metabolism, detoxification, and excretion that make it harder to rid their bodies of toxic chemicals. They also put their hands and objects in their mouths, and spend more time on the floor.
Project TENDR scientists outline three classes of plastic chemicals with substantial evidence of harm to children’s brains. These chemicals and their substitutes leach from plastics into food and dust, and are widely found in the bodies of pregnant women, infants, and children.
- Phthalates – used to make plastics more durable and flexible; used in food and drink packaging and processing, personal care products, building materials, medical tubing and devices, printing inks, pesticides, and synthetic clothing.
- Brominated or chlorinated flame retardants - added to furniture foam, electronics, and other materials to suppress fire.
- Bisphenols - used to make polycarbonate plastics and as linings in cans and bottle caps.
Co-author Dr. Susan Schantz, who heads an NIH-funded children's health research center at University of Illinois, highlights the scientists’ concerns:
"We can measure the impact of plastics chemicals on attention and learning in babies as young as four months old. The harm from plastics-related exposures starts very early and continues to affect children into adolescence."
New evidence of microplastic harm
While there are some questions regarding how microplastic particles are measured in people, researchers are working to improve measurement methods to ensure greater accuracy. Despite these concerns, there is mounting evidence that microplastics are accumulating in people.
There is also emerging evidence of health harms from these exposures, according to Dr. Carmen Marsit of Emory University, lead author of the new study:
“We are seeing a disturbing trend of an increase in plastic contamination in babies. Once children are exposed, chemicals from plastics and the particles themselves can enter cells and disrupt placental and metabolic functions that can impact fetal growth, brain growth, learning, and memory.”
Reducing the proliferation & toxicity of plastics
The Project TENDR authors recommend immediate, specific steps governments and companies can take to safeguard children’s developing brains and bodies from plastics.
The scientists urge decision makers to:
- Limit or eliminate single-use plastics, starting with packaging.
- Ban intentionally added nano- and microplastics in all products.
- Ban neurotoxic chemicals in products, starting with food contact materials.
- Phase out the most toxic plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene.
- Set government standards to eliminate microplastics from drinking water.
- Ban plastic incineration and other forms of toxic “recycling.”
- Require public disclosure of all chemicals used in plastic materials.
- Add microplastics to the U.S. national biomonitoring program (NHANES) and restore and expand NHANES.
These actions are urgently needed at the local, state, and federal levels, given the increasing evidence of harm from microplastics and plastics particles to current and future generations.