New report highlights plastic pollution as a grave and growing danger to health and announces an independent, health-focused global monitoring system

Woods Hole, Mass. (August 4, 2025) — As ministers and diplomats arrive in Geneva, Switzerland, for a final round of talks to conclude a UN-backed global plastics treaty, a major new report published in the British medical journal The Lancet issues a stark warning: Plastic pollution is a grave and growing danger to human and planetary health. The report, which includes co-authors from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Microplastics team, provides the most up-to-date assessment of the links between human health and plastic pollution across the full life cycle of plastic. A new monitoring system announced at the same time offers a way to track a suite of scientifically relevant indicators in order to quantify the human health impacts of plastics

“There is a direct connection between human health and the health of the environment, particularly the ocean,” said report co-author, WHOI senior scientist, and marine biologist John Stegeman. “And the health of the ocean is threatened in many, as-yet unknown ways by the presence and degradation of plastic from the surface to the deep seafloor. This report is a clarion call for leaders at all levels of society to take meaningful, science-based action that protects human health and the planetary systems that support us all.”

While the impacts of plastic pollution on human health and the environment are growing, the report finds, increasing harm due to plastics is not inevitable. UN Member States will gather in Geneva, Switzerland from August 5-14, 2025, for the expected final round of talks to conclude a global plastics treaty to end plastic pollution. The mandate for these negotiations is to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full complexity of plastics in the environment.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is the fact that plastics are not a single substance,” said Chris Reddy, a report co-author, leader of the WHOI Microplastics initiative, and WHOI senior scientist and marine chemist. “Plastics are, in fact, thousands of polymers that take countless forms and include tens of thousands of chemical additives. A single piece of plastic released into the ocean is subject to any number of external forces that determine how it interacts with its surroundings—and with us.”

An estimated 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste now pollute the planet. Micro- and nano-plastic particles and multiple plastic chemicals are found in the most remote reaches of the environment and in the bodies of marine and terrestrial species worldwide, including humans. The new report chronicles the human health impacts of plastics and plastic pollution from infancy to old age, and highlights the significant health-related economic costs.

Coincident with the expected finalization of the global plastics treaty, the report also announces the launch of an independent, health-focused global monitoring system on plastics: The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics inspired by the model and impact of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

The new Countdown will identify and regularly report on a suite of scientifically meaningful and geographically and temporally representative indicators across all stages of the plastic life cycle, and track progress towards minimising exposures and mitigating human health impacts. In doing so, the Countdown will provide independent data to inform decision-making for the benefit of public health. It will also develop and track indicators across four domains: Production and Emissions, Exposures, Health Impacts, and Interventions and Engagement.

“We know a great deal about the range and severity of the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution across the full life cycle of plastic,” said Prof. Philip Landrigan, MD, a paediatrician and epidemiologist, Director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College, and the lead author of the new report in The Lancet. “These impacts fall most heavily on vulnerable populations, especially infants and children. They result in huge economic costs to society. It is incumbent on us to act in response. To those meeting in Geneva: please take up the challenge and the opportunity of finding the common ground that will enable meaningful and effective international cooperation in response to this global crisis.”

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastic was funded primarily by the Minderoo Foundation. Additional funding and in-kind support are provided by Boston College, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and Heidelberg University, and two workshops held to develop the Countdown were supported by the Centre Scientifique de Monaco and The March Foundation, in conjunction with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Minderoo, including any of its benefactors, Boston College, the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, and Heidelberg University, did not have any influence over the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication.

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About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its mission is to understand the ocean and its interactions with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. WHOI’s pioneering discoveries stem from an ideal combination of science and engineering—one that has made it one of the most trusted and technically advanced leaders in fundamental and applied ocean research and exploration anywhere. WHOI is known for its multidisciplinary approach, superior ship operations, and unparalleled deep-sea robotics capabilities. We play a leading role in ocean observation and operate the most extensive suite of ocean data-gathering platforms in the world. Top scientists, engineers, and students collaborate on more than 800 concurrent projects worldwide—both above and below the waves—pushing the boundaries of knowledge to inform people and policies for a healthier planet. Learn more at www.whoi.edu.