El plástico y la salud

The document outlines the systemic health risks posed by plastics across their entire life cycle, from fossil fuel extraction to waste management. It highlights how exposure to microplastics and toxic additives occurs through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact, leading to severe conditions such as cancer and endocrine disruption. The author argues that current fragmented approaches are insufficient and calls for a preventive strategy based on transparency, legal frameworks for information access, and a general reduction in plastic manufacturing.

• Plastic poses a global threat to human health across its entire life cycle, and addressing these risks requires a shift away from fragmented assessments toward a comprehensive life-cycle approach to avoid creating new environmental problems.
• The extraction and transport phase, particularly hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas, releases over 170 chemicals that can cause cancer, neurological toxicity, and damage to the immune, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems.
• Refining and manufacturing processes emit carcinogens and other toxic substances that lead to leukemia, genetic impacts such as low birth weight, and nervous system impairment, with the highest risks faced by industry workers and nearby communities.
• Consumer use of plastic products results in the inhalation and ingestion of microplastics and hundreds of toxic substances that are suspected or known to be carcinogenic or to disrupt the endocrine system.
• Waste management technologies, including incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis, release toxic metals (such as lead and mercury), dioxins, and furans into the air, water, and soil, which can accumulate in plant and animal tissues before entering the human body.
• Once in the environment, microplastics can release toxic additives or concentrate existing environmental toxins, leading to human health issues including inflammation, genotoxicity, oxidative stress, diabetes, and cardiovascular or neurodegenerative diseases.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). El plástico y la salud. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Plastic-Health-Spanish.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. El plástico y la salud. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Plastic-Health-Spanish.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=El plástico y la salud |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Plastic-Health-Spanish.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndplstico, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{El plástico y la salud}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Plastic-Health-Spanish.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }