The Plastic Soup Foundation is the organiser of the Plastic Health Summit in Amsterdam, a recurring event that has taken place for the second time in 2021.
The theme of 2021 was One Health and highlighted the synergistic benefits of a healthy environment, healthy animals, and healthy people. We can no longer pretend that our damaging behaviour towards the planet advances human health and development – in fact, the opposite is true. This is a critical moment. Plastic shows up everywhere on earth, and through our food, drinks, and the air we breathe micro-and nanoplastics also enter our bodies.
The immense impact of plastics on our health and what it means for the next generation was presented in four separate sessions; Exposure and Toxic Effects, Environmental Justice, Plastic and Me, and The Next Generation.
Dr. Dick Vethaak is a biologist and toxicologist at the scientific institute Deltares in Delft, and professor emeritus with the department of Environment and Health at the VU University Amsterdam. Most of Dick’s recent work focuses on ecological and human health risks of MNPs.
Ms. Jo Royle is the founder and CEO of Common Seas. She has over 20 years’ experience spearheading global marine programs and sailing ventures, focusing on identifying critical marine issues and aligning senior experts with engineering solutions to reduce human impact on the sea.
Dr. Heather Leslie is an environmental pollution scientist with a deep interest in the negative impacts of plastic on our ecosystems, society and health. She is dedicated to analyzing plastic particles in biological samples to establish plastic exposure levels in the real world.
Ms. Hanna Dusza, researcher at the Utrecht University, focuses on developing methods to measure prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting substances (EDCs) and other environmental pollutants such as micro/nanoplastics. Dusza is investigating the effects of these substances on the placenta and the developing fetus.
Professor Pat Hunt’s expertise lies in human chromosome abnormalities. An accidental exposure of her mice to bisphenol A (BPA) turned her attention to the effects of common environmental contaminants on reproduction. Her research now focuses on transgenerational effects of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Dr. Raymond Pieters is trained as a medical biologist and conducts research into the effects of substances on the immune system (immunotoxicology). He is currently working to determine the effects of micro- and nanoplastics on humans, in collaborative EU funded research programs.
Dr. Bas van der Zaan is an expert on DNA-based monitoring of micro-organisms in the environment, including antibiotic resistance, and pathogens on microplastics, and he initiates projects on innovative monitoring tools. He focusses on microbial quality of surface- and groundwater in relation to human health.
Dr. Esperanza Huerta Lwanga is a soil ecology researcher, investigating how to manage organic wastes, and to use soil invertebrates to increase soil fertility. Her focus lies in studying the impact of microplastics on soil fauna, at Wageningen University and Research.
Green scientist Professor Terry Collins first learned of the insidious health damage caused by commercial chemicals while a student at the University of Auckland. He aims to provide solutions for dealing with the low dose adverse effects of certain everyday-everywhere chemicals, including EDCs.
Uncle Angaangaq, is a healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (wind drum) from the Eskimo-Kalaallit culture in Greenland. As a former representative of the Arctic people at the UN General Assembly, he tells the world how plastic pollution affects the communities living in the Arctic region.
Professor Susan Shaw is an environmental health scientist, marine toxicologist, and Professor of Public Health at SUNY-Albany. She is also the Founder/Director of the Shaw Institute, with a mission to improve human and ecological health, and a major focus on plastic pollution.
Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside the late Polly Higgins, barrister and legal pioneer. Stop Ecocide was created to support the establishment of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. Jojo has overseen the movement’s impressive growth.
Hugo-Maria Schally coordinates and develops the EC’s work in and collaboration with international environmental organizations and multilateral environmental agreements, and the links between trade and environment. He has been involved in the negotiation of many multilateral environmental agreements and global conferences.
Jane Patton is Campaign Manager for Plastics & Petrochemicals with the Center for International Environmental Law, or CIEL. Their campaign focuses on policy and practice to eliminate harmful impacts to health, environment, and the climate along the full life cycle of plastics.
Ms. Lisa Hooyer leads the global network to collaborate for change and research in plastics and human health: Minderoo Global Plastics and Human Health Network. The network includes scientists, and legal specialists, collaborating to transition to safer plastic without toxicity, and enabling scientific research.
Sian Sutherland is a serial entrepreneur co-founder of A Plastic Planet, a global social impact movement with a single goal: to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap. It’s her passion to ignite social change, create brands, campaigns and businesses with soul.
Environmental biologists Prigi Arisandi and Daru Setyorini, husband and wife, co-founders of Ecoton, work to prevent plastics contaminating the Brantas river in East Indonesia, which provides drinking water for 6 million people downstream. Prigi was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2011.
A river ecologist, Daru Setyorini has been advocating for healthy river conservation and zero waste cities to prevent plastic waste leakage into rivers and sea in Indonesia.
Diane Wilson is executive director of the grassroots organization San Antonio Bay Waterkeeper on the Texas Gulf Coast. She and her team collected the evidence that led to Formosa Plastics declared a serial offender with over 1800 clean water violations.
Gloria is a sustainable development practitioner working in natural resource management. Gloria was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2021 for her work in fighting the plastic industry in Malawi for the enforcement of a nationwide ban on production, distribution and use of single use plastics.
Kelly Bencheghib is an activist and filmmaker from Indonesia. She co-founded Make a Change World, a media outlet and environmental agency that uncovers uplifting and inspirational stories, with her brothers Gary and Sam. They launched a series of expeditions to tackle plastic pollution.
Kristal Ambrose is an environmental scientist studying marine debris and plastic pollution in The Bahamas. In 2020, she was named the Goldman Environment Prize Winner for Islands and Island Nations for her work with The Bahamas’ single-use plastic ban.
14 year old daughter of Prigi and Daru, builds public awareness to prevent plastic pollution in Indonesian rivers and demands children’s right for clean and healthy environment. Nina called on the leaders of the world to put an end to the export of plastic waste from developed countries.
Dr. Dick Vethaak is a biologist and toxicologist at the scientific institute Deltares in Delft, and professor emeritus with the department of Environment and Health at the VU University Amsterdam. Most of Dick’s recent work focuses on ecological and human health risks of MNPs.
Charles Moore is the Captain of Oceanographic Research Vessel Alguita, and the founder of three NGOs focusing on the plastic plague infecting earth’s biosphere. In 1999, he became the first researcher to sample plastics floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Dr. Jane Muncke is the managing director of Food Packaging Forum, a charitable foundation she set up in 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland. She holds a PhD in ecotoxicology and an MSc in environmental science from ETH Zurich. She specializes in science communication and scientific research about chemicals in all types of food contact materials and articles, and their impacts on human health and the environment.
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Fleur Bosch2021-11-26 12:51:162021-11-30 10:00:21Plastic particles can affect our immune system
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Madhuri2021-10-15 15:04:402021-10-15 15:04:43Health and climate, but the P-word is still taboo
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Fleur Bosch2021-10-13 15:04:272021-11-23 15:20:07Have you ever wondered what plastic might be doing to your fertility? 
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Laura
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Laura2021-10-12 17:11:252021-11-23 15:26:51What is in the air around us?
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Madhuri2021-10-12 15:50:362021-11-23 15:27:54Plastic Health Summit presents the first scientific evidence on the presence of micro and nanoplastics in the bloodstream
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Madhuri2021-10-11 15:42:432021-11-23 15:29:10“The earth is in need of a good lawyer” – Polly Higgins
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Carina van Uffelen2021-09-30 10:50:262021-09-30 10:50:29Chemours to the European Court for hazardous GenX
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Fleur Bosch2021-09-29 16:05:292021-11-25 13:25:25Plastic Health Summit in Amsterdam
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Madhuri2021-08-18 16:11:322021-08-18 16:11:35Extremely high levels of dioxin in chicken eggs where plastic is incinerated in the open air
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Madhuri2021-07-29 11:17:142021-11-23 15:32:33Industry must not sabotage the ban on UV-328
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Carina van Uffelen2021-06-30 11:47:282021-11-23 15:34:08Fashion industry addicted to plastic materials releasing dangerous microfibers
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Carina van Uffelen2021-06-24 14:01:572021-11-23 15:35:38Save the date – 2021 Plastic Health Summit
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Carina van Uffelen2021-06-10 17:43:312021-11-23 15:36:21Canada declares plastic toxic and plans to ban SUP items
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Carina van Uffelen2021-06-09 15:14:252021-11-23 15:37:26What do people really know and want to know about plastic & health?
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Carina van Uffelen2021-04-07 11:22:102021-11-23 15:38:14Microplastics are a source of bacteria and threaten humans and animals
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Laura2021-03-03 16:37:432021-11-23 15:39:12The invisible threat: microplastics from your clothes
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Carina van Uffelen2021-02-24 13:31:482021-11-23 15:40:00New Research in the Netherlands: synthetic clothing fibers inhibit the production of lung cells
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Carina van Uffelen2021-01-13 09:51:282021-01-13 11:59:44How hazardous carpet waste ends up in horse riding arenas
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Madhuri2021-01-13 00:01:002021-01-13 12:08:17Children’s playgrounds are a source of toxic microplastics
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Laura2021-01-11 18:07:332021-01-11 18:07:34Are babies sufficiently protected against microplastics?
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Laura2020-05-04 17:11:382020-05-07 09:51:46NGOs advocate for a more sustainable and fairer textile sector
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Plastic Soup Foundation2020-01-10 00:00:002021-11-23 16:02:16London has highest measured concentration of microplastics in the air
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-11-29 00:00:002020-03-02 17:03:42Cheap plastic toys can be dangerous for children
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-10-25 00:00:002021-11-23 16:01:57Does plastic make us sick? Contact with microplastics may lead to immune cell death.
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-10-22 00:00:002021-11-23 16:01:39Does plastic make us sick? Strong decline in growth of the respiratory tract
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-10-18 00:00:002020-04-03 12:26:04CALL: Register plastics as chemicals substances
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-10-11 00:00:002021-11-23 16:01:11Are we getting sick of burnt plastic?
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Plastic Soup Foundation2019-10-08 00:00:002021-11-23 15:59:02The first evidence of health risks from micro and nano plastics
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Carina van Uffelen2019-08-29 00:00:002020-03-02 14:13:37WHO wants more research into the health effects of microplastics
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Carina van Uffelen2019-08-21 00:00:002020-04-03 12:53:10Better recycling of synthetic mattresses is half-baked solutionContact us if you have questions, confusion, or comments related to the Plastic Health Summit. We will try to get back to you as soon as we can!
If you have press-related inquiries then please contact our Press Officers.
For English inquiries, contact Alex Pegler:
+44 (0)7 982 914122
For Dutch inquiries, contact Elles Tukker:
+31 (0)6 29386056
