More Than 90% of Everyday Plastic Items Contain High-Risk Chemicals, Report Finds

A new investigation into chemicals used in everyday plastics has found that nearly 93% of the plastic chemicals assessed pose a high risk to human health when toxicity and exposure information are considered.

The analysis, published by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) in a report titled Poison Plastics: How Chemicals in Everyday Plastics Are Harming Your Health, examined chemicals associated with products people encounter regularly, including food-contact materials, clothing, toys, household products, and hygiene and medical items.

The findings were reported by CNN on September 30, 2026.

What the Investigation Found

Everyday products can contain plastic-associated chemicals, while researchers say significant data gaps remain about many of these substances.

According to the EJF analysis, the researchers assessed plastic-associated chemicals across five broad categories of everyday products.

The report found high proportions of chemicals classified as posing high health risks in each category:

• Food-contact plastics: almost 92%

• Children's toys: nearly 89%

• Textiles and clothing: about 93%

• Common household products: more than 92%

• Hygiene and medical plastics: nearly 93%

These categories include products such as food packaging, kitchenware, toys, clothing, gardening equipment, office supplies, dental floss, menstrual products, pill casings, patches and syringes.

Naima Fenderl, the report's lead author and a researcher at EJF, said the analysis considered both the potential effects of the chemicals and available information about exposure.

The potential hazards identified by the report include cancer, genetic changes, endocrine effects, reproductive toxicity and damage to organs.

A Major Problem: Missing Toxicity Data

One of the most important findings is not simply the percentage of chemicals classified as high risk.

The report also identified a substantial lack of information about many plastic-associated chemicals.

Of the 3,552 chemicals evaluated by EJF, nearly 80% lacked enough data to determine their toxicity or exposure risks, according to the investigation.

That means the available science does not provide a complete picture of the potential health risks associated with many chemicals used in plastics.

Pediatrician Philip Landrigan, who was not involved in the report, said the lack of information about chemical composition and toxicity makes it difficult to understand the full extent of potential exposure.

Industry Group Challenges the Report's Approach

The findings have also drawn criticism from the chemical industry.

The American Chemistry Council, a trade association representing chemical manufacturers, told CNN that the EJF report should be viewed with caution.

Kimberly Wise White, the organization's vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, argued that the analysis did not incorporate important sources of regulatory information, including databases from the United States and European Union.

The council said that excluding those regulatory frameworks could lead to a misleading interpretation of how chemicals are regulated.

This is an important qualification when interpreting the investigation: the EJF findings represent an analysis of available chemical hazard and exposure information, while the American Chemistry Council disputes aspects of the report's methodology and regulatory framing.

Why Plastic Chemical Exposure Is Difficult to Avoid

Plastic is deeply embedded in modern consumer products.

The source report notes that plastics are used in food packaging, clothing, children's toys, household equipment, furniture and numerous personal-care and medical products.

The EJF analysis builds on data from PlastChem, a database developed by international researchers to catalogue chemicals associated with plastics.

According to the source article, researchers identified approximately 16,000 chemicals in PlastChem, with about 4,200 classified as highly hazardous to human health and the environment and more than 10,000 lacking available data.

The EJF used the PlastChem database to examine these chemicals in the context of real-world products and potential human exposure.

Chemicals of Concern Include PFAS, Phthalates and Bisphenols

The report highlights several groups of chemicals that have attracted scientific and regulatory attention.

These include:

• Bisphenols, including BPA

• Phthalates

• PFAS, often referred to as "forever chemicals"

The report links these chemical groups to a range of potential health and environmental concerns. Martin Wagner, a PlastChem project lead and professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said some chemicals of concern can persist in the environment, accumulate in organisms and move through water systems.

The source article also reports that many plastic-associated chemicals can act as endocrine disruptors, potentially interfering with hormone systems and affecting reproduction and development. These effects are presented as findings and interpretations from the researchers cited, rather than evidence that exposure to a particular consumer product will necessarily produce those outcomes in an individual.

Regulation Remains a Key Issue

According to EJF, more than half of the high-risk chemicals identified in its analysis are not regulated under major international agreements or in all of the jurisdictions examined.

The organization argues that gaps in chemical regulation leave consumers exposed to substances whose health risks may not be fully understood.

However, the American Chemistry Council disputes the report's characterization of chemical regulation, arguing that EJF excluded important US and European regulatory databases from its analysis.

Those competing interpretations are important because identifying a chemical as hazardous is not the same as determining the actual health risk from a particular product or level of exposure.

Plastic Production Has Increased Dramatically

The investigation also places today's chemical exposure concerns in the context of the rapid growth of plastic production.

Global plastic production was roughly 2 million metric tons in 1950, according to the source article. Today, annual production exceeds 430 million metric tons, with further growth projected for coming decades.

As production has expanded, so has the number of chemicals used in plastics and the range of products containing plastic materials.

That creates a difficult challenge for researchers and regulators: thousands of chemicals may be present in consumer products, while toxicity and exposure information remains incomplete for many of them.

What the Findings Do — and Do Not — Show

The EJF investigation raises concerns about the chemicals associated with everyday plastics, but its findings should not be interpreted as proof that every plastic product causes illness.

A chemical can have hazardous properties without producing the same level of risk in every situation. Actual risk can depend on factors such as the substance involved, concentration, route of exposure, duration and frequency of exposure, and individual circumstances.

The report's most significant message is therefore broader: researchers say there are substantial gaps in knowledge about the chemicals used in everyday plastics, while many products expose people to plastic-associated substances on a regular basis.

The Bottom Line

The new EJF report identifies a high proportion of plastic-associated chemicals as potentially high-risk based on available information about toxicity and exposure. It also highlights a much larger group for which scientists lack enough information to confidently assess risk.

The findings have prompted concern from environmental and public-health researchers, while the American Chemistry Council has challenged the report's methodology and treatment of existing regulatory systems.

For consumers, the investigation underscores how widespread plastics are in modern life — and how much remains unknown about the thousands of chemicals associated with them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the report say that all plastic products are dangerous?

No. The investigation identifies chemicals that EJF classifies as high risk based on available hazard and exposure information. It does not establish that every plastic product will cause harm to every person.

How many chemicals were analyzed?

EJF evaluated 3,552 plastic-associated chemicals in the analysis described by the source article. Nearly 80% reportedly lacked sufficient information to determine toxicity or exposure risk.

Which plastic products were included?

The investigation examined five broad categories: food-contact plastics, children's toys, textiles and clothing, household products, and hygiene and medical plastics.

What chemicals are highlighted in the report?

The analysis discusses several groups, including PFAS, phthalates and bisphenols such as BPA.

Is there disagreement about the findings?

Yes. The American Chemistry Council criticized the report's methodology and said it did not adequately account for existing regulatory databases and frameworks.

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