New Delhi, June 23
A new study on Monday warned that a single pellet of recycled plastic can contain over 80 different chemicals, adding that recycled polyethylene plastic can leach chemicals into water causing impacts in the hormone systems and lipid metabolism.
The plastic pollution crisis has reached global levels, threatening both planetary and human health, and recycling is proposed as one of the solutions to the plastics pollution crisis.
However, as plastics contain thousands of chemical additives and other substances that can be toxic, and these are almost never declared, hazardous chemicals can indiscriminately end up in recycled products, said researchers from University of Gothenburg and Leipzig.
In a new study published in Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers bought plastic pellets recycled from polyethylene plastic from different parts of the world and let the pellets soak in water for 48 hours.
After which zebrafish larvae were exposed to the water for five days. The experimental results show increases in gene expression relating to lipid metabolism, adipogenesis, and endocrine regulation in the larvae.