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[00:00.40] A recently released report from European scientists says there are 16,000 chemicals in plastic materials around the world.

[00:15.80] The report said not enough is known about the safety of all those chemicals.

[00:26.16] They estimate that about 25 percent of these chemicals are possibly harmful to human health or the environment.

[00:36.52] The Norwegian Research Council supported the creation of the report.

[00:43.96] It was released as officials are negotiating a United Nations treaty on plastic pollution.

[00:54.05] The U.N. estimates 400 million metric tons of plastic waste are produced every year.

[01:03.35] Jane Muncke helped write the report.

[01:07.87] She is with the Swiss nonprofit Food Packaging Forum.

[01:13.98] She said to deal with plastic pollution, people must look at the “full life cycle of plastics.”

[01:23.80] Researchers fear chemicals from plastics can spread into water and food.

[01:32.04] Muncke said, "We're finding hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic chemicals in people now and some of them have been linked to adverse health outcomes.”

[01:48.77] Activists say such effects include possible harm to the reproductive system and cardiovascular disease.

[01:58.87] Martin Wagner is the lead writer of the study.

[02:08.69] He is an environmental scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

[02:13.74] He said researchers find hundreds, if not thousands, of chemicals in everyday products when they look for them.

[02:23.83] Kimberly Wise White is with the American Chemistry Council, an industry group.

[02:33.93] She said the findings “ignore real-world exposures.”

[02:42.96] She added the findings “paint an incomplete picture” for policy makers and the public.

[02:49.33] The plastics industry has said any worldwide treaty should support recycling and re-use of plastic.

[03:00.49] But the writers of the recent report said that only dealing with plastic waste does not go far enough.

[03:19.88] They said there is a need for more information on chemicals in plastics, including recycled products.

[03:21.48] About 25 percent of the chemicals found lacked information on their chemical identity, the report said.

[03:35.02] Wagner said the problem “is the chemical complexity of plastics.”

[03:38.21] He is a leading member of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty.

[03:47.51] It is an organization of scientists and experts seeking to advise the plastics treaty process.

[03:57.87] Wagner said, "Often producers don't really know which kind of chemicals they have in their products and that comes from very complex value chains."

[04:12.48] Six percent of the chemicals found in plastics are regulated internationally.

[04:23.10] Wagner said that without regulations, there is no reason for companies to identify what is in the plastics.

[04:30.80] Last year, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said there were around 13,000 chemicals in plastics.

[04:43.81] Negotiations will continue in Ottawa, Canada.

[04:48.60] The aim is to finish a version of a treaty by December in the South Korean city of Busan.