In 2024, the Minderoo Foundation and the University of Adelaide in Australia published an umbrella review of the research examining links between exposures to chemicals commonly found in plastics and human health effects (FPF reported). The review included five major classes of plastic-associated chemicals that are either widely used in food contact materials (bisphenols, phthalates, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)) or have been detected in them (polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), (FPF reported and here)).
In an article published on July 28, 2026, in the journal Annals of Global Health, scientists from Boston College, USA, and the Minderoo Foundation announced their latest overview of epidemiological evidence on how plastic-associated chemicals harm human health. The overview demonstrates the continuing increase in “statistically significant and highly consistent” evidence of harm. All data are available in the interactive open-access PlasticHealthAware dashboard.
Specifically, the update includes substantially more evidence that exposure to bisphenols and phthalates is associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes in infants and reproductive health effects in women, including complications during pregnancy. For PFAS exposures, the update identifies an increased risk of reproductive hormone changes and infections accompanied by fever in infants and children, changes in blood lipids (such as cholesterol) in children, decreased vaccine responses and lower bone mineral density in children and adults, as well as genitourinary cancer in both men and women.
The update includes data extracted from 76 systematic reviews and 3541 metal-analysis published since the first update of the HealthMap in 2023 and up to August 31, 2025. Overall, PlasticHealthAware now presents data from 196 reviews and 6,841 meta-analyses. The dashboard was first launched at the INC-5.2 for the Global Plastics Treaty on August 9, 2025 (FPF reported and here). It can be accessed in the six official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish), and its adjustable level of detail allows it to be tailored to a broad range of stakeholders, including policymakers, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, scientists, health practitioners, and the general public.
Boston College and Minderoo plan to update PlasticHealthAware regularly to ensure that it stays “a relevant tool that can contribute to evidence-based policy on plastics at the global, national, regional, and local levels for the benefit of public health.” With this latest update, the scientists have developed a workflow that enables the rapid, ongoing synthesis of published epidemiological evidence and efficient dissemination of newly published findings.
Reference
Mulders, Y. et al. (2026). “PlasticHealthAware: Presenting the Latest Meta-Analytical Findings on Plastic Chemicals and Human Health.” Annals of Global Health. DOI: 10.5334/aogh.5195
