Philip J. Landrigan

Director, Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good

Director, Global Observatory on Planetary Health

The Growing Threat of Plastic and Chemical Pollution

Plastics have supported extraordinary advances in virtually every area of human endeavor, and they have made our lives immeasurably more convenient. Multiple lines of evidence now indicate, however, that plastics are neither as safe nor as inexpensive as they seem. More than 6 billion tons of chemical-laden plastic waste now pollute the planet, and recent studies find that plastics harm human health,  the environment, and the global economy at every stage of the plastic life cycle.  This talk will explore these threats  and discuss  science-based strategies for ending plastic pollution.

(Program at noon. Lunch at 11:30.)