Additives

This study of children’s products from 26 countries revealed that toxic flame-retardant chemicals in recycled electronic waste results in pervasive contamination of new plastic children’s toys and related products. Recycling materials that contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic substances contaminates new products, creates human and environmental exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling.

Evidence of banned toxic flame-retardants, hazardous chemicals from electronic waste that are known to disrupt thyroid function and cause neurological and attention deficits in children, are recycled into new plastic consumer products across Europe.

Developed in collaboration with multiple UN convention groups, technical experts, and organizations working to address toxic pollution, this report discusses the key challenges society faces to eliminate toxic components in the plastics life-cycle, identifies chemicals and sectors of greatest concern, and outlines key approaches for tackling the issues. 

Research from IPEN and BAN reveals dire human exposure and food chain contamination from highly toxic plastics in waste in Ghana, including toxic recycled e-waste shipped from Europe.

Report on the toxic threats from waste incinerator ash that, which is generated at a rate of millions of tons every year includes analysis of global scale of toxic ash and other residues from waste incineration contain dioxins, furans (PCDD/Fs) and a range of other highly toxic POPs at levels which are a threat to human health and the environment.

The toxic industrial chemical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are primarily used in metalworking, but also used in plastic products as flame retardants and softeners. A survey of children’s products in 10 countries reveals widespread contamination with SCCPs.

Although there are thousands of individual chemicals that can be described as EDCs, they fall into seven broad categories. This brief discusses what each group is, how people can be exposed, and the health impacts.

Plastics and food packaging contain chemical contaminants from manufacturing along with many additives. Many of these additives are toxic and they leak from products during use and can be released during recycling and from recycled products. This study focuses on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), whose releases are closely linked to plastic waste. 

The Beat the Microbead campaign adresses microbead pollution through personal care products. On the website, you can check indivual products for microplastic and find plastic-free alternatives.

This publication presents the findings of a literature study on the lifecycle of plastics and its impacts on women and men, from production to litter.