Why it matters
Plastic has been found everywhere researchers have looked, in the human body and across the planet. Studies keep finding links between plastics and serious illness, and Montanans deserve the power to act.
Health
More than 16,000 chemicals have been identified in plastics. More than 4,200 are chemicals of concern, and about 10,000 lack enough hazard data to judge their risk (PlastChem report, 2024).
New research: Microplastics in Me: Finding Plastics in Human Blood (Plastic Pollution Coalition, October 2026) summarizes the latest science on plastics in our bodies.
Climate
Nearly all plastic is made from fossil fuels. Producing primary plastics generated about 5.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory).
Environmental justice
Children are especially vulnerable to micro- and nanoplastics and plastic chemicals because they are growing quickly and their defenses are still developing. Communities near plastics plants, such as Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, carry some of the heaviest burdens.
Wildlife
More than 1,500 species worldwide have been documented eating or being harmed by plastic pollution (Geneva Environment Network).
See our Resources page for links to every study and report.