This resource has been factchecked by policy experts, using the latest scientific research. Find all our sources linked below.
Many plastics are used for only minutes, but their impact can last for centuries.
Petrochemicals are chemicals derived from fossil fuels and are used to make many things in our daily lives: plastics, fertilizers, pesticides, synthetic fabrics, paints, flooring, and so much more. The extraction and processing of the oil, gas, or coal used to make petrochemicals pollutes waterways and releases heavy concentrations of air pollutants, including benzene, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, PFAS, vinyl chloride, and dioxins, all of which can increase the risk of cancer.
The petrochemical industry is a vast, growing, and frequently overlooked contributor to climate change. Every step of the petrochemical supply chain—from extracting the fossil fuel feedstocks, to manufacturing, to managing the waste— releases climate-heating gases.
Petrochemicals come at a steep cost to human health, especially for those living near production and processing facilities. Most petrochemical production facilities in the U.S. are in Texas and Louisiana, but there are others in virtually every state, including a growing number in the Ohio River Valley.
Health impacts of petrochemical pollution
Oil and gas development pollutes the air at every stage, from the drilling site preparation to the processing for fuel or petrochemical products, to the transportation and ultimate combustion to heat homes or as plastic trash in a municipal waste incinerator. Scientists have observed an association between living near oil and gas infrastructure and elevated risk of illness. Studies of adults find an increased incidence of cancer and heart attacks. For children, the health impacts may include childhood leukemia, multiple myeloma, congenital heart defects, other adverse birth outcomes, and childhood asthma.
Infants and children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of petrochemical pollution since their bodies are undergoing rapid and delicate developmental phases, and their immune systems—the primary defense against infections, diseases, and harmful chemicals—are still immature. They also breathe more and drink more for their size and live closer to the ground, where many pollutants concentrate.
Plastics are the largest group of petrochemicals
We live in a plastic world. We play sports with plastic equipment on synthetic rubber turf and plastic grass, and we drink from throwaway single-use plastic water bottles, less than 6% of which are recycled. Even aluminum soda cans and paper coffee cups are lined in plastic beneath their shells. Our kids’ toys and pajamas are plastic.
We also ingest plastic—including about 240,000 fragments in each one-liter bottle of water we drink.
This plastification of daily life will only get worse as plastic waste continues to degrade and as production is expected to triple over the next 40 years.
Plastic production and justice
Millions of low-income and historically marginalized people live in the shadow of petrochemical plants, including plastics fabrication and incineration facilities. Many of these communities are Black, Latino, and Indigenous, and they experience disproportionate public health burdens from around-the-clock toxic pollution. Petrochemical plants, incinerators, landfills, and other heavily polluting industries are commonly sited in communities designated mixed residential-industrial zones that already are burdened by multiple pollution sources. This is in large part a result of historical racial discrimination in housing and financial services.
Many of the worst air pollution hotspots can be found in Southern states, some of which offer only weak environmental oversight. In majority-Black census tracts, the estimated risk of cancer from toxic air emissions is more than twice the risk found in majority-white tracts. In addition to elevated risk of cancer and other illnesses, these communities face diminished property values, neighborhood infrastructure and services, and quality of life from odors, noise, and light pollution.
The impact of plastic for years to come
Many plastics are used for mere minutes, but their impact can leave a mark for centuries to come. Plastics are piling up in our landfills and oceans, incinerators are turning waste plastics into toxic air pollution, and consumer products are leaching chemicals into our bodies.
The production of all this plastic will contribute up to 19% of global climate pollution by 2040. The petrochemical industry uses more than 16,000 chemicals to make plastic—including PFAS, phthalates, and heavy metals.
How to protect our communities
Petrochemical companies make bad neighbors—for communities and for the planet. Pollution standards and enforcement to date have been inadequate, though better than nothing. But now the federal government, responding to pressure from the petrochemical lobby, is working to systematically roll back health and safety rules and laws and to dismantle entire programs meant to safeguard people from toxic chemical exposures, climate emergencies, and chemical disasters.
Join Moms Clean Air Force to demand Congress, EPA, and other agencies stop gutting critical safeguards and start reining in the toxic pollution from plastics and other petrochemicals.
Learn more about Moms' work on petrochemical pollution and chemical safety.
Full list of sources.
Updated: May 2026