Almost all of our consumer goods contain petrochemicals. We know about the environmental damage these cause. Less appreciated is how these products are also harming our health.
Biobased materials can be more sustainable, but are they any healthier?
We look at how biomaterials interact with our bodies in a range of applications, from cosmetics right the way through to architecture.
How petrochemicals harm our health
In 2024 the health impacts of petrochemicals went TikTok viral. The online outcry centered on a study reporting the toxicity of flame retardants inside black plastic cooking spatulas, whipping up fears about the dangers lurking in everyday materials.
The study turned out to contain a simple arithmetic error, which had exaggerated the health risks.
However, the media uproar did highlight an unsettling fact about our consumer landscape: the human health risks of modern industrial materials.
Throughout our lives, petrochemicals damage our bodies as we use and interact with them.
Often, the most toxic parts of plastic are the petroleum-based additives that manufacturers use during processing. They use these additives to improve the material’s physical properties.
One is a group of chemicals called plasticisers. Phthalates are an example, a chemical which can cause hormonal disruption, metabolic disorders, and can damage reproduction. Others are bisphenol, which affects hormone release and function in the human body, and phthalic ester.
Additives like this are generally more damaging to human health than the petrochemical plastics that it is embedded in.
However, plastic itself poses a health hazard once it breaks down into smaller and smaller particles.
Microplastics is where we see most clearly how environmental and bodily health are sometimes difficult to disentangle.
Microplastic pollution works its way up the food chain into the human bloodstream. They are known to cause cancer, change our metabolism, and poison our neurological system.
The health harms of microplastics do not end there. These microscopic pieces tend to attract and concentrate any herbicides, pesticides, and other synthetic chemicals found in the environment.
Once concentrated, these harmful chemicals become even more potent. Once eaten by wildlife, they eventually enter the human food chain.
Finally, microplastics are disease transmitters: they attract microbes and pathogens, carrying them to new places where the organisms may not have resistance – including human beings.
Is biobased better?
Biobased materials are made from renewable, biological sources rather than fossil minerals.
Some biomaterials can be kinder to our bodies than conventional oil-based ones. The health benefits of these biomaterials are usually tied to how easily they biodegrade in the natural environment.
Many biomaterials are also compostable. This means materials that break down relatively rapidly (just like organic matter) and do not release environmental toxins when it does.
Compostable biomaterials break down like natural materials into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass. Left in the environment, they get absorbed by hungry animals, plants, and microbes.
Healthwise, compostable biomaterials tend to be among the most benign. This is because their chemical structure is pretty much in line with the materials commonly found in nature.
Increasingly, skincare and beauty brands are reaching for these natural materials in their formulations.
Safer skincare
Shockingly, petrochemicals are found inside most cosmetics and skincare products on the market.
The skin is a porous barrier meaning that it will absorb at least some of the substances that we put on this.
This can lead to allergies and skin irritability to more serious internal problems – parabens and phthalates inside makeup, moisturisers, hair and shaving products, can cause hormonal disruption.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the health and environmental damage caused by the petrochemicals industry and are demanding renewable alternatives with less impact.
Biobased skincare ingredients are leading this shift in market demand for effective yet safer alternatives.
Generally, plants can do everything that synthetic chemicals can. New biobased products are coming onto the market all the time. Biobased beauty brands like Ursa Major and Ofnature are drawing on plant-based antimicrobial extracts, essential oils, and natural antioxidants to extend shelf-life. Plant-based compounds also provide healing or UV protection.
Consumer demand for more natural ingredients has encouraged new marketing narratives that evokes ancient wisdom and simpler times.
Typifying this trend are British brands like Ffern, which makes limited edition perfumes with seasonal ingredients, sustaining their commitment to planet and people with yearly endowments to traditional English crafts.
Health-conscious packaging
Packaging is everywhere in the modern economy: the food we eat and the products we order online come coated in protective plastic layers, most of which are still made from petrochemicals.
Consumers want to know these materials are not releasing harmful compounds into food or liquid, especially when stored for long periods of time.
This consumer concern is understandable, with a staggering 10, 259 chemicals relating to plastic packaging materials today, according to one estimate. This includes all the chemicals used in manufacturing or in the final packaging material including additives.
We already know the damaging health impacts of many of these. Polystyrene-based polymers (expanded foam included) emit the compound styrene into the environment. Disposable oil-based plastics release microplastics and other harmful substances in hot water.
Natural biomaterials made of vegetable or plant fibre like wheat, wood, bamboo, or palm leaf can be good, low-impact alternatives to plastics generally safe for human health.
One experiment that studied particle migration between wheat pulp and wood packaging and three liquids showed that the materials were well below the migration limits set by EU legislation.
Biobased plastics, meanwhile, are not entirely free of concern when it comes to prolonged food storage solutions. Certainly, bioplastics are not more dangerous than petroleum plastics. Further, bioplastics can be vital in reducing the environmental impacts of certain technologies and industries.
Yet like all plastics, biobased PLA and PHA release nanoparticles into food that have potentially harmful effects. A lot of this is down to the additives that producers have to use to achieve certain functional properties.
The alternatives are new non-plastic biomaterials that strike a balance between the simplicity of organic matter like plant fibres and the functionality of synthetic materials.
For example, plant-based nanocellulose is a promising candidate for non-plastic, non-toxic food packaging.
Although it must be processed to become a useful packaging product, nanocellulose-based materials are not as heavily processed as plastics, providing an alternative that is more ‘biocompatible’ – in other words, les likely to produce adverse reactions in the body.
Healthy buildings, healthy bodies
We tend to separate environmental health from individual health. However, a healthy environment is essential for human physical well-being.
Buildings are one area where environmental and bodily health merge in very obvious ways: the materials we build with and live with each day have an immense impact on our physical state.
Modern buildings contain a plethora of synthetic chemicals. A dangerous side effect of these are volatile organic compounds or VOCs, particles released by chemicals and materials when they degrade.
VOCs contribute to poor indoor air pollution – their presence is linked to poor human health, allergies, irritation, nose and throat issues, and tiredness.
Two major VOC sources inside buildings are petrochemical paints and coatings, including epoxy resins, alkyd paints, and polyurethane.
Biobased paints and coatings can achieve lower VOC release and create a healthier indoor environment. Plants and natural resins are used as raw materials substitutes for the traditional petroleum.
In addition to low-VOC coatings, some manufacturers are formulating zero-VOC options that are made without any measurable pollutants, according to regulatory guidelines.
The low and zero-VOC paint and coating market is growing in the EU, which has been imposing stricter regulations on the industry for health and sustainability.
A better choice
An important thing to bear in mind is that all materials – including biobased ones – release chemical byproducts when exposed to light, air, heat, and moisture.
However, we can cut the number and volume of health-damaging substances we are exposed to by opting for biobased materials and manufacturing ingredients. In many cases, biobased materials present the healthier choice for consumers looking to reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants.
Yet R&D into healthier biomaterials is still ongoing. A key takeaway is that the health impact of a material comes from the hidden additives it contains.
Right now, there is a particularly urgent need for the biobased industry to develop non-toxic alternatives to relatively overlooked chemicals like adhesives and plasticisers. These are used in small amounts relative to major materials like plastics but they have outsized effects on health and environment.