Assessing the Levels of Awareness among European Citizens about the Direct and Indirect Impacts of Plastics on Human Health

Abstract

There is an urgent need to assess European citizens’ perspective regarding their plastic consumption and to evaluate their awareness of the direct and indirect effect of plastics on human health in order to influence current behavior trends. In this study, the evaluation has been cross-related with scientific facts, with the final aim of detecting the most recommendable paths in increasing human awareness, reducing plastic consumption, and consequently impacting human health. A statistical analysis of quantitative data, gathered from 1000 European citizens via an online survey in the period from May to June 2020, showed that a general awareness about the direct impact of plastic consumption and contamination (waste) on human health is high in Europe. However, only a few participants (from a higher educational group) were aware of the indirect negative effects that oil extraction and industrial production of plastic can have on human health. This finding calls for improved availability of this information to general public. Despite the participants’ positive attitude toward active plastic reduction (61%), plastic consumption on a daily basis is still very high (86%). The most common current actions toward plastic reduction are plastic bag usage, reusage, or replacement with sustainable alternatives (e.g., textile bags) and selecting products with less plastic packaging. The participants showed important criticism toward the information available to the general public about plastics and health. This awareness is important since significant relation has been found between the available information and the participants’ decisions on the actions they might undertake to reduce plastic consumption. The study clearly showed the willingness of the participants to take action, but they also requested to be strongly supported with joint efforts from government, policies, and marketing, defining it as the most successful way toward implementing these changes.

Assessing Knowledge and Use Practices of Plastic Food Packaging among Young Adults in South Africa: Concerns about Chemicals and Health

“…Sanlier [93] showed that young adults' perceptions of food safety risks were "low", resulting in incorrect storing, preparing, thawing, and reheating practices during food preparation. Studies have shown that consumers' attitudes towards use of plastic and littering need changing [28]. We add to those findings that poor utilization habits and ignorance about plastic packaging must also be addressed in line with safety recommendations.…”

“…Despite the benefits of plastics, they can pose risks to human health and the environment [28] through existing production approaches and consumers' utilization and disposal practices [18]. Although consumers express interest in BPA and its safety [28,29], studies reveal that they are unaware and uninformed about chemical substances in plastic [30] and the effect of these substances on health [28]. Consumers may not know, therefore, that plastic products harmful chemicals migrate from plastic products, and that persistent incorrect utilization practices may adversely affect their health.…”

“…Research in China showed that consumers rated their own knowledge about food packaging as below average [28]. Previous South African studies [33][34][35][36][37] have highlighted consumers' lack of knowledge about nutrition and labelling, environmentally friendly packaging, and consumer protection, and these deficiencies could indicate a further possible lack of knowledge about plastic food packaging, resulting in its potential misuse.…”

“…International research into consumers' behaviour (e.g., perceptions, understanding, decisions) and plastic packaging is sparse and relates mainly to sustainability [10,11,35,40]. Furthermore, research on plastics and health concerns is abundant; however, only a few studies relate to consumers' awareness of plastics and human health [28,41,42] and does not focus on plastic as food packaging. This gap is even more apparent in South Africa, where existing research pertains to plastic and sustainability [43] and no studies, thus far, focused on consumers and plastics or plastic packaging in the context of health.…”

Explicitly and implicitly measured valence and risk attitudes towards plastic packaging, plastic waste, and microplastic in a German sample

“…Although plastic packaging was generally seen not as bad and risky compared to plastic waste and microplastic, its evaluations were negative too. Together with previous research, the current work emphasizes that attitudes related to plastic are negative (Study 1), problem awareness and risk perception are high (e.g., Hartley et al, 2018; Study 2), and many people already try or effectively reduce their plastic consumption (Barbir et al, 2021). Interventions should therefore help consumers to act according to their attitudes by, for example, communicating and providing appropriate alternatives and options for their disposal (e.g., bio-based and fully degradable materials;…”