The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue
The open burning of mixed wastes that contain plastics is a widespread practice across the globe, resulting in the release of gas emissions and ash residues that have toxic effects on human and environmental health. Although plastic pollution is under scrutiny as a pressing environmental concern, it...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ubiquity Press
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Annals of Global Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4232 |
| _version_ | 1797315769386663936 |
|---|---|
| author | Gauri Pathak Mark Nichter Anita Hardon Eileen Moyer |
| author_facet | Gauri Pathak Mark Nichter Anita Hardon Eileen Moyer |
| author_sort | Gauri Pathak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The open burning of mixed wastes that contain plastics is a widespread practice across the globe, resulting in the release of gas emissions and ash residues that have toxic effects on human and environmental health. Although plastic pollution is under scrutiny as a pressing environmental concern, it is often conflated with plastic litter, and the contribution of the open burning of plastics to air, soil, and water pollution gets overlooked. Therefore, campaigns to raise awareness about plastic pollution often end up leading to increased open burning. Many countries or regions where open burning is prevalent have laws in place against the practice, but these are seldom effective. In this viewpoint, we direct attention to this critical but largely overlooked dimension of plastic pollution as an urgent global health issue. We also advocate interventions to raise awareness about the risks of open burning and emphasize the necessity of phasing out some particularly pernicious plastics in high-churn, single-use consumer applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:08:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2a1f36d973424d09b48b25534cc4d90f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-9996 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:08:38Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Global Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-2a1f36d973424d09b48b25534cc4d90f2024-02-13T07:27:36ZengUbiquity PressAnnals of Global Health2214-99962024-01-019013310.5334/aogh.42324232The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health IssueGauri Pathak0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3244-0372Mark Nichter1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4112-3010Anita Hardon2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2761-5502Eileen Moyer3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1233-6041Aarhus UniversityThe University of ArizonaWageningen University and ResearchUniversity of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and DevelopmentThe open burning of mixed wastes that contain plastics is a widespread practice across the globe, resulting in the release of gas emissions and ash residues that have toxic effects on human and environmental health. Although plastic pollution is under scrutiny as a pressing environmental concern, it is often conflated with plastic litter, and the contribution of the open burning of plastics to air, soil, and water pollution gets overlooked. Therefore, campaigns to raise awareness about plastic pollution often end up leading to increased open burning. Many countries or regions where open burning is prevalent have laws in place against the practice, but these are seldom effective. In this viewpoint, we direct attention to this critical but largely overlooked dimension of plastic pollution as an urgent global health issue. We also advocate interventions to raise awareness about the risks of open burning and emphasize the necessity of phasing out some particularly pernicious plastics in high-churn, single-use consumer applications.https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4232plastic pollutionwasteair pollutionplastic burning |
| spellingShingle | Gauri Pathak Mark Nichter Anita Hardon Eileen Moyer The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue Annals of Global Health plastic pollution waste air pollution plastic burning |
| title | The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue |
| title_full | The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue |
| title_fullStr | The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue |
| title_short | The Open Burning of Plastic Wastes is an Urgent Global Health Issue |
| title_sort | open burning of plastic wastes is an urgent global health issue |
| topic | plastic pollution waste air pollution plastic burning |
| url | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4232 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gauripathak theopenburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT marknichter theopenburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT anitahardon theopenburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT eileenmoyer theopenburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT gauripathak openburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT marknichter openburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT anitahardon openburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue AT eileenmoyer openburningofplasticwastesisanurgentglobalhealthissue |