Summary box

• Plastic pollution—unmanaged disposal of plastic waste in water and on land—is a growing global crisis affecting the environment and animals, and an expanding body of evidence suggests negative impacts on human health.

• Plastic products and plastic waste threaten human health because of their toxicity, role in disease propagation, possible interference with food supply through their environmental effects and socioeconomic impacts.

• Despite the burden caused by plastic pollution, the topic does not appear to be a priority on the agenda of the global public health community. International health organisations have not been vocal about plastic pollution as a health threat, and the issue is not frequently discussed in the global health scientific literature.

• The global health community should urgently: (1) fill the evidence gap around plastic exposure and impact for human health to strengthen the current indirect and disjointed evidence; (2) join forces with environmentalists and animal health specialists to advocate for policies to influence plastic production, consumption and waste management; (3) advocate for the adoption of a circular economy model in healthcare to reduce plastic medical waste and (4) contribute to combatting plastic pollution through the use of their technical skills, the ‘public health toolbox’.