Towards the rationalization of additives in plastics

AUTHOR : Arnaud Parenty, Consultant, Lavoisier Circular Transition
Plastics are now ubiquitous in our lives and have played an essential role in improving our health and quality of life. The same is true of agriculture, where plastics facilitate and improve production while minimising irrigation and the use of inputs. But what exactly are plastics? What roles do they play? And what about end-of-life issues? Plasticulture Magazine asked Arnaud Parenty, a doctor and chemical engineer specialising in the circular economy of plastics, to explain.
Useful in many fields, plastics have easily found their place thanks to their many benefits and functionalities: lightness, adaptability, durability (in the temporal sense of the term), ease of use and cost. The great versatility of plastics is linked both to the chemical structure of the polymer (monomers, co-monomers, size of polymer chains, dispersity (i.e. variability in chain length), etc.) and to its physical and mechanical properties (transparency, strength, etc.), which determine its areas of application. However, plastics are not made up of polymers alone, but also include additives with a variety of roles. Unfortunately, these additives can migrate during the life of plastics and have an impact on human health and ecosystems. For example, a study published in November 2023 by the NGO EARTH ACTION estimated that every year around 5.6Mt of chemical additives are disseminated on land and 1Mt in the ocean, as shown in the diagram below.¹
Another recent study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society estimated the health impact and economic cost of a series of additives that are now banned or highly regulated, such as brominated flame retardants, perfluorinated substances, phthalates and other bisphenols². The authors estimated the economic cost of these additives at 249 billion dollars.
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