Greenpeace: plastic factory emissions increase cancer risk for Dutch residents

More than 2.2 million people in the Netherlands live within 5 kilometers of a plastic-producing factory and are therefore exposed to increased levels of air pollution, Greenpeace warned on Tuesday in a new report. This can lead to respiratory conditions such as asthma, and over time may also result in various types of cancer.

Local residents are exposed to, among other things, fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and volatile organic compounds such as benzene. Various scientific studies have found higher rates of illnesses such as lung cancer and leukemia linked to emissions of these air pollutants.

Greenpeace International conducted research into the emissions of plastic factories in 11 countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, the U.S., and the United Kingdom. The environmental organization then looked at how many people lived in the nearby vicinity of these factories.

Among these countries, the Netherlands has the highest percentage of its population exposed to harmful substances, mainly due to its high population density and the close proximity of industrial facilities to urban areas.

Greenpeace estimated that more than 16 million people live within five kilometers of plastic-producing factories across the 11 countries studied. The United States has the largest total number of people living within a 5-kilometer radius of a plastic factory.