Generation Plastic: Unpacking the impact of plastic on children

Today’s children will be called Generation Plastic. Exposed to plastic before they are even born, they will face soaring production and plastic waste through their childhood years. Low birthweight, lower IQ, obesity, behavior problems, respiratory illness including asthma, vector-borne diseases, and childhood cancer have all been linked to plastic. Plastic production, starting with fossil fuel extraction, is accelerating climate change and degrading children’s environments, especially in marginalized communities and on indigenous ancestral lands. 

Globally, regulatory safeguards are not protective for children, whose bodies absorb plastic particles and chemicals from everyday items in their homes, schools, health facilities and play spaces. This month, stakeholders from around the world are convening in South Korea to negotiate the world’s first treaty to end plastic pollution. Children are at the centre of our plastic crisis, yet their health and rights are too often overlooked.

In this webinar, learn more about UNICEF's new report Generation Plastic: Unpacking the impact of plastic on children's health – exploring how widespread the problem is today, its health implications for children and recommendations to protect children from its risks. 

Speakers:

• Dr. Kam Sripada, UNICEF's Environmental Health Consultant
• Dr. Phil Landrigan, Boston College's Director of the Global Public Health Program and the Global Pollution Observatory within the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society
• Abheet Solomon, UNICEF's Senior Advisor of Environment