'Explosive Growth' in Petrochemical Industries Linked to Cancers, Other Life-Threatening Diseases, New Analysis Warns

A new analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday has warned that chemical pollution tied to fossil fuel operations poses serious health concerns.

Citing data from dozens of studies, the report highlights the rise in neurodevelopmental disorders, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and some cancers in young people taking place amid what the paper's author calls "explosive growth" in the petrochemical industry.

Petrochemical Industries Poses Risks to Human Health

TOPSHOT - A flame burns at the top of a petrochemical plant in Houston, Texas, on April 20, 2020. - US oil prices crashed to unprecedented lows on April 20 as futures in New York ended in negative territory for the first time amid a devastating supply glut that has forced traders to pay others to take the crude off their hands.
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According to The Guardian, the study claimed that the production of petrochemicals and the consumption of fossil fuels have increased fifteen-fold since the 1950s. Meanwhile, certain cancers in people under 50 increased significantly between 1990 and 2019.

University of California San Francisco (UCSF) professor Tracey Woodruff, the report's author, said that exposure to chemicals that negatively impact people's health is one of the major factors causing climate change. She claimed that typically, people say cancer is a disease of aging, but now they are seeing it increasing in people under 50.

The main concern identified in the paper is that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), commonly present in plastics and other products that interfere with healthy hormone function, act as a key threat.

Furthermore, the report noted that numerous medical societies, government agencies, and systematic reviews have concluded that exposure to chemicals and pollution, including EDCs, is an important risk factor for multiple diseases and health inequities.

Boston College epidemiologist Phil Landrigan, who was not involved in the study, agreed with the paper's conclusions. Landrigan said that plastic is filled with over 10,000 chemicals.

He added that these chemicals include carcinogens, developmental neurotoxicants, endocrine disruptors, and hundreds more that have never been tested for toxicity and can cause a range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infertility.

Experts Call Out US Health System

James Shultz, Ph.D., senior author of the article and a Sylvester faculty member and associate professor in Miami's Department of Public Health Sciences, said that the US health system contributes 8.5% of greenhouse gas emissions and significantly uses petrochemical materials, mainly single-use plastics. He noted that the petrochemical pathway often ends with them because the healthcare industry uses a lot of disposable plastics and single-use materials, which increased during the pandemic.

The authors are urging the medical community and its practitioners to become more aware of the potential effects of their practices and to look for ways to replace single-use and disposable goods with reusables whenever possible.

Doing so will lessen the health system's environmental effects, make its supply chain more resilient during disasters, and reduce community exposure to hazardous materials.

Shultz said that healthcare providers on the front lines are focused on saving lives. However, he claimed they are probably not considering the connection between health care's use of disposable plastics and corresponding impacts on climate change or community exposure to carcinogens.