The League of Women Voters of New York State recently co-sponsored a webinar on Endocrine Disruptors in plastics. Co-sponsored by Beyond Plastics, an organization that is working to end plastic pollution, the webinar summarized the hazards of endocrine disruptors in plastics and discussed current legislation pending in the New York legislature. The bill is sponsored by State Senator Pete Harckham and Assembly member Glick.
 
The webinar speakers were Pete Myers, PhD, a well-known researcher into endocrine disruptors and their effect on public health, and co-author of the book Our Stolen Future; and Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics. Dr. Megan Wolff, policy director at Beyond Plastics, moderated.
 
Why are endocrine disruptor chemicals in plastics so threatening to health? They are ubiquitous. They derive from petrochemicals, and more than 100 chemicals are EDCs. Examples of their wide-spread use include that some 40% of NYS waste is packaging, and millions of tons of plastics enter the oceans every year. Their health effects include involvement in conditions such as heart disease and obesity, and they threaten sperm count in our population and are altering reproductive development.
 
There are, however, possibilities for legislative improvement. The bill pending in the NYS legislature -- Packaging  Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act -- would eliminate more than a dozen of the most harmful EDCs from plastic packaging, and reduce plastic packaging itself by 50% over  twelve years. It is expected that this bill will serve as a model for other state and federal initiatives, and will substantially impact the crisis we now face. The bill would require 50% reduction in plastic packaging in 12 years, with incremental short-term goals: 10% reduction by year 3, 20% by year 5, 30% by year 8; 40% by year 10; 50% by year 12. Once reduced, the rest of packaging must be recyclable. Further, it requires a reduction in toxins in packaging. Within two years, none of a serious list of compounds (such as formaldehyde, antimony, etc.) may appear.
 
The full recording of the webinar is available here.