Sweden’s Society for Nature Conservation: some plastics should be phased out
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation is calling for a ban on certain plastics following a two year investigation.
“We know for sure now that a number of plastic materials contain toxic chemicals that can impair human health and be destructive from an environmental point of view,” the society’s chairperson, Michael Karlsson, tells Radio Sweden.
The society presented a report Monday, entitled “Everything you (don’t) want to know about plastic”, which contains lists of different kinds of plastics, which the society says are problematic.
Among the worst substances are brominated flame retardent, phthalates and bisphenols, according to Karlsson, and he calls for them to be replaced.
He says the lists were made in response to politicians, who wanted to know how to deal with plastics.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Ammonia, toxic metals leaching into Nunavut’s Frobisher Bay, CBC News
Finland: Microplastics – the latest threat to the Baltic, Yle News
Sweden: Sweden tackles plastic bag problem, Radio Sweden
United States: Arctic sea ice littered with tiny bits of ‘microplastic’, Alaska Dispatch
