The True Cost of Our Addiction to Plastic

More than a century after the invention of the first fully synthetic plastic, we’re still ignorant of the nature of these supremely useful substances.

Phthalates are toxins that have seeped into our food, water, clothes, and many of the everyday things we use. luckakcul/Shutterstock

Commentary

For the first time, researchers have attempted to put a price on plastic’s effects on our health. And it’s quite a price. According to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, illnesses caused by plastic chemicals cost the U.S. health care system at least $249 billion each year, or 1.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).