Reimagining plastic usage to combat pollution

In an interview with CBC, environmental scientist Pete Myers advocates for a significant reduction in plastic production and emphasizes the urgent need to address plastic pollution's health impacts.

Mark Kelley reports for CBC.

In short:

Pete Myers, chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences, highlights the toxic health impacts of plastics and stresses the need for urgent reductions in their production.
Myers criticizes the notion of recycling as a solution, suggesting it distracts from more effective measures like limiting virgin plastic production while Nestlé and other corporations call for collaborative global rules with less emphasis on production caps.
Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault acknowledges the need to eliminate the most harmful plastics but expresses hesitation about imposing a cap on all plastic production.

Key quote:

“We have the ability to use the science we have today, which we didn't have when plastic was invented. We know why some plastics are safe and some aren't. And let's use that information, that chemical information, to design safer materials.”

— Pete Myers, chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences

Why this matters:

Plastic pollution has penetrated every corner of our planet, threatening ecosystems and human health. Read more: Exposure to chemicals in plastics linked to cancer diagnoses.

www.cbc.ca

Credit: Pierre Lemos / Unsplash+

Toxic chemicals and climate change work together to harm fertility across species

In a recent review published in NPJ Emerging Contaminants, researchers examine how toxic chemicals can reduce fertility in both humans and wildlife, and how these effects are worsened by climate change.

In short:

Animals - including insects, fish, reptiles, birds, humans, and other mammals - are constantly simultaneously exposed to synthetic chemicals and the impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures.
Both of these stressors can harm fertility, and many of the impacts found are similar across species, such as effects on sperm and eggs.
The stress caused by these exposures also impacts overall health, harming animals’ ability to adapt to a changing environment and worsening global biodiversity loss.

Key quote:

“To build a sustainable future, we must recognize that chemicals, once released, don’t simply disappear. Instead, they contribute to the larger issue of driving humanity towards the exceedance of planetary boundaries when considered in combination with climate change and other planetary-level impacts.”

Why this matters:

While climate change and toxic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are both individually well-established as health threats, few studies have examined the implications of the widespread simultaneous exposure experienced by humans and wildlife. Many EDCs can also impact health across multiple generations, meaning their harm continues long after the original exposure. To better tackle the issue of EDCs, the authors of this study emphasize the need for strong regulations that address chemicals by class, rather than individually.

Related EHN coverage:

Declining PFAS levels in seabird eggs reflect impact of regulatory action
Op-ed: A stalled global plastic treaty threatens our future fertility (written by two of the lead authors of the above study)

More resources:

ChemTrust: Wildlife and the environment – Endocrine disruptors
Stockholm Resilience Center: Planetary Boundaries: The safe operating space for humanity

Brander, S. et al. (2026). Impacts of environmental stressors on fertility and fecundity across taxa, with implications for planetary health. NPJ Emerging Contaminants.

Read the Full Article on

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Reimagining plastic usage to combat pollution

Toxic chemicals and climate change work together to harm fertility across species

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