Plastic products contain a lot of different chemicals. Some of these are hazardous in themselves but even "safe" plastic can become dangerous if you mix them with others. We simply don't know all the effects since the number of chemicals - and mixtures - are to many.
The FRAM Centre has covered the plastic challenge in several resent activities.
Hazardous chemicals in plastic packaging
The Hazardous Chemicals in Plastic
Packaging (HCPP) project set out to identify which
chemicals are used in plastic packaging, if they are toxic, and
which are the most concerning. Also, what does this
all mean in the context of the circular economy?
In the project, FRAM researchers investigated environmental effects and the cost of substituting
plastic softeners to safer ones.
The notion that we can, in a sensible way, recycle plastic is wrong. We will probably have to go further and ban the harmful chemical cocktail that the plastic consists of.
Most of the Earth's water now contains microplastics, ie small, small pieces of plastic, barely visible to the eye. They are found in the sea, lakes and rivers, and also in snow and ice up in the Arctic.
FRAM and the Swedish Chemicals Agency hosted the 9th NeRSAP meeting
On September 26-27 around 45 members of NeRSAP gathered in the Dome of Vision in Gothenburg to exchange experiences on socio-economic analysis and analysis of alternatives to chemicals of concern under REACH. Participants came from European and national authorities, chemical and metal industry associations, consultancy firms, NGO and academia.
Chemicals - an ignored Sustainable Development Goal?
Do we need a new international SDG about
chemicals, similar to the Swedish environmental goal of a “non-toxic environment”? Take part of the discussion between Anna Lennquist from ChemSec, Bethanie Carney
Almroth, from the
University of Gothenburg, Magnus Nydén from Nouryon, and Thomas Backhaus and Åsa Arrhenius from the FRAM Centre in this video from the International Science Festival 2019.
Endocrine disruption chemicals make us sicker, fatter and poorer
- but we can do something about it. In this FRAM Seminar you meet Dr.
Leonardo Trasande, an internationally renowned leader in environmental
health. Watch the video.
Is taxation good for managing hazardous chemicals?
Chemical policy in the world currently mostly targets a limited
number of highly hazardous chemicals. Since such substances have a great
impact on environment and health, bans and use restrictions have been
the most frequently used policy instruments. But what about taxation?
Researchers Daniel Slunge from the FRAM Centre at the University of Gothenburg and Francisco Alpizar
from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in
Costa Rica have performed an analysis of worldwide experiences and
lessons learned in this area. Read the full article.
Welcome to our new PhD students!
Julia Johansson
Julia Johansson joined FRAM this summer as a doctoral student in public
law at the Department of Law. Her research interest lies in connecting
environmental and public health issues such as chemicals with gender
perspectives. Her thesis project focuses on a feminist theoretical
understanding of risk assessment of chemicals and is supervised by prof. Lena
Gipperth. Read more about Julia.
Anton
Sandblom
Anton Sandblom is a new PhD student at the
the Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences. Anton
has
a background in biomedical laboratory science with a MSc in ecotoxicology and
a focus on risk assessment and modelling of the effects of chemical mixtures.
His PhD project will evolve from the base of trying to find synergistic biocide
mixtures with high efficacy at target sites but with low environmental impacts. Read more about Anton.
Upcoming events
The ACT Sustainable Week:
The missing SDG – what should be added? Thomas Backhaus from FRAM is talking about a Non-toxic Environment. Time: 7 November at 18:00-19:30. Location: Ekocentrum
Here we highlight texts, from newspaper articles to scientific publications, that we find important for the debate on chemical impacts on human health and the environment.
