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Plastics in Our Blood: U.N. Treaty Must Tackle Health Fallout

The New Indian Express Hubballi

|

July 26, 2025

As international negotiations resume in Geneva this August on a landmark United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution, leading health experts are warning that the proposed agreement lacks the teeth needed to protect public health.

Without stronger measures to regulate hazardous chemicals embedded in plastics and curb plastic production itself, scientists say the treaty could fall short of preventing a worsening global health crisis.

In a joint commentary, Nicholas Chartres from the University of Sydney, Bjorn Beeler of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), and Dr Tracey Woodruff from Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California argue that the treaty must undergo a paradigm shift—from focusing narrowly on waste management to regulating plastic as a hazardous material throughout its entire lifecycle.

The urgency of their appeal is grounded in mounting scientific evidence. A new systematic review led by Chartres, published in biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM) found high-certainty evidence that microplastics negatively affect the human reproductive, digestive, and respiratory systems. Although only three of the 31 studies in the review involved human participants, data from 28 animal studies pointed to alarming biological effects. Researchers concluded that microplastic exposure is suspected to contribute to reduced fertility, gastrointestinal inflammation, and respiratory harm.

Microplastics and nanoplastics, formed from the breakdown of larger plastics or intentionally added to consumer goods, have been detected in human lungs, blood, kidneys, placenta, and even brain tissue. These particles often carry a toxic cocktail of chemicals, many of which are endocrine disruptors capable of interfering with hormonal and immune systems. "These chemicals interfere with hormonal systems and have been linked to chronic diseases," said Dr Woodruff.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA The New Indian Express Hubballi

The New Indian Express Hubballi

Two dons-turned-politicians draw battle lines on Mokama poll turf

BATTLE lines have been drawn in Bihar’s Mokama assembly constituency ahead of the first-phase polls on November 6, as two don-turned-politicians, Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh, prepare for a high-octane electoral clash.

time to read

2 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

PK SAYS BJP FORCING HIS CANDIDATES TO OPT OUT OF CONTEST

JAN Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on BJP alleging that three of his party candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections withdrew their nominations under “pressure” from the ruling party.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

EC: Print ads a day before or poll date need pre-certification

AHEAD of assembly polls in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued an order saying to ensure a fair campaign environment, no party, candidate, organisation or person shall publish any advertisement in print media on poll day and one day prior to the poll day, unless the contents are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

Winter blackouts loom as Russia targets Kyiv’s grids

AS the lights went out in her hometown, 40-year-old Zinaida Kot could not help but think about her next dialysis treatment for kidney disease. Without electricity, the machine that keeps her alive stops working.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

WASTE LAND: A NATION OF LANDFILLS

SOME years ago, I was editing a newspaper in Mumbai and we ran a report on the city’s eternal garbage problem.

time to read

3 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

Paraglider from Canada found dead, Australian rescued in HP

A 27-year-old Canadian paraglider, Megan Elizabeth, was found dead after going missing from the high mountains of the Dhauladhar range, while a 47year-old Australian paraglider, Jacob, was rescued in the last 48 hours.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

B'luru to get ₹1.20Lcr boost for infra works

CAN money work the magic? The bumbling and crumbling Bengaluru is set to get a huge cash infusion, nearly Rs 1.20 lakh crore, from the state government for various development projects in the city.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

10 months on, NMC yet to act against 30 docs for 'sponsored' foreign trips

THE National Medical Commission (NMC) is yet to take any action against 30 doctors who accepted free trips to Monaco and Paris worth ₹1.91 crore last year, despite the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) recommendations that action should be taken against them for violating professional misconduct.

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

The New Indian Express Hubballi

Speaker appoints lawyer to assist panel probing Justice Varma graft case

LOK Sabha Speaker Om Birla has appointed advocate Karan Umesh Salvi as a consultant to assist the judges’ inquiry committee investigating allegations of corruption against Justice Yashwant Varma.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

The New Indian Express Hubballi

$1L H-1B fee not to apply to visa holders

A month after US President Donald Trump's proclamation jacking up the fee for H1-B visas to a steep $100,000 caused panic among international students and professionals, the US government has now clarified that the fee won't apply to most current visa holders and recent international graduates.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

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