The Green Needham and the League of Women Voters of Needham co-hosted a webinar, “Plastics: the Mounting Threat to Public Health,” on January 28, 2026, with Dr. Philip Landrigan, MD. Over 400 people registered for the webinar, and just over 200 attended from all over the country. You can watch the webinar and download the slides.
Dr. Landrigan is a pediatrician and epidemiologist, and he directs the program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College and the Global Observatory on Planetary Health.
Dr. Landrigan has collaborated with other scientists to study the health impacts of plastics throughout their life cycles. He shared study results and gave his recommendations for taking bold steps now to reduce plastics and mitigate their health impacts. Dr Landrigan also responded to questions from the webinar audience.
More Useful Links!
Links Dr. Landrigan provided in his slides.
- The Lancet Countdown on Health and Plastics
- The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health
You can take action today!
In his presentation, Dr Landrigan stressed the need for us to take immediate action to limit our exposure to plastics and reduce the amount of plastic that is produced globally. We hope you were inspired by the presentation to take steps to reduce the plastic in your own life, and also to advocate in your community and at the state and federal levels for policy changes to reduce the amount of plastic pollution we are exposed to every day. Here are some ideas.
- If you want to find alternatives for the plastics in your home, see our guide
- If you want to work on reducing plastics in your community, connect with our Plastics Reduction Team and Beyond Plastics
- If you want to urge your state senator to support the bill Dr Landrigan referenced in his talk – S.2541, An Act to Reduce Plastics – find your senator here
Thank you for your concern about the environment we all share.
