The pervasive presence of plastics in our environment and their potential implications on human health is a growing concern. Health risks exist at all stages of the plastic lifecycle— from production, use, recycling, and eventual disposal, as well as from legacy plastics in the environment. As plastics degrade, they release additives, nano- and micro-plastics, and oligomers, which can infiltrate air, water, and food sources. Increasing evidence of the consumption and inhalation of nano- and micro-plastics, concerns about exposures to harmful additives used to give plastics particular properties, and the need for improved understanding of potential effects on human health and associated risks are becoming integral parts of public health discourse. Plastics2026 – A global symposium on plastics and human health conference aims to bring together scientists, medical professionals, industry leaders, and policymakers to  address the urgent need to understand these risks and devise strategies to mitigate negative health impacts. Join us as we explore these critical issues and work towards a healthier future.

Conference venue: W Brisbane

Conveniently located in the heart of the CBD and overlooking the iconic Brisbane River, W Brisbane sets the stage for exclusive, extraordinary experiences with exceptional design and contemporary luxury. With over 1,100 sqm of design-led event spaces and state-of-the-art conferencing facilities, guests can get down to business in nine dynamic indoor and outdoor spaces.

Address
81 N Quay
Brisbane City, QLD, 4000

Conference Sessions

Plastics2026 is a global symposium focused on plastics and human health. Increasing evidence highlights the potential human health risks associated with plastics. In this conference, we aim to bring together key stakeholders to understand the level of risk from plastic particles and plastic-associated chemicals. We welcome abstracts covering the following topics:

• Analytics: work that explores innovative methodologies to detect, quantify, and characterise plastics and plastic-associated chemicals in biological samples.
• Exposure: studies focused on understanding human exposure to plastics and plastic-associated chemicals.
• Toxicology: studies that investigate the toxicological effects of plastics and plastic-associated chemicals.
• Risk & Epidemiology: studies that look at the associations between plastics and/or plastic-associated chemicals and human health outcomes, including modelling and risk assessment.
• Inventory: efforts to systematically catalogue chemicals and prioritise chemicals for monitoring and risk assessment.
• Regulation and Policy: studies that consider current policies and regulatory frameworks.

Keynote Speakers

We are excited to announce some of our Keynote speakers! Further announcements are coming soon, visit the conference website again to discover new additions to the program.

Dr Andrea Hinwood, United Nations Environment Programme

Dr Andrea Hinwood serves as the Chief Scientist of the United Nations Environment Programme. She is an environmental scientist with specialization in environmental and human exposures and implications for human health.  Dr. Hinwood earned her PhD in environmental epidemiology from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She has worked on a range of local, regional and international environmental issues, and provided strategic advice to governments and a variety of international fora including chemicals, waste and pollution. She served as the first Chief Environmental Scientist at the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in Victoria, Australia and was previously an Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University and held appointments as a member and Deputy Chair of the Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia and a sessional member of the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Emeritus Professor Sarah Dunlop, Minderoo Foundation

Sarah Dunlop is Director, Plastics & Human Health Impact Mission at Minderoo Foundation and Emeritus Professor, The University of Western Australia. She leads pioneering research to eliminate the harmful effects of plastic by identifying casual evidence for harm to human health, thereby establishing industry accountability, and by developing safe and sustainable alternative materials. Since joining Minderoo in 2020, she has built and spearheaded global collaborations across Australia, Europe, the UK and US to undertake keystone research to drive systems change. The work involves defining the extent of the problem by synthesising existing evidence, developing accurate measurement techniques for plastic chemicals and micro- and nanoplastic particles in human biospecimens, and using hybrid epidemiology and clinical trials to uncover causal mechanisms underlying health impacts from plastic exposure. Parallel work involves accelerating the development and scaling of non-fossil fuel-based materials which do not contain toxic chemicals or fragment into micro- and nanoplastics.

Dr Cassandra Rauert, The University of Queensland

Dr Cassandra Rauert is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, and is the microplastics research lead at the Minderoo Centre – Plastics and Human Health. Her primary research focusses on assessing human exposure to microplastics/nanoplastics and developing methods for detecting plastics in human matrices. She also leads various environmental exposure research projects including assessing the impact of tyre road wear particles and their associated chemicals on the urban environment.

Dr Sivendra Michael, Fijian Government, Environment and Climate Change

Dr. Sivendra Michael is Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change. He has over a decade of work experience in the climate change and disaster management field across Asia Pacific and Eastern African. Prior to joining the Fijian Government, Dr. Michael worked for various UN agencies, the Pacific Islands Forum and the British Council. He currently is the co-chair of the Climate Investment Fund Board and the co-chair for the UNFCCC Ocean-Climate Dialogue. Dr. Michael is Fiji’s Chief Negotiator for the Plastics Treaty, UNFCCC COP29 and UNCBD COP16.

Professor Martin Wagner, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Martin is a Professor of Environmental Toxicology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. His research aims at understanding how plastics, including microplastics and plastic chemicals, affect biodiversity, health, and society, working at the interface of ecology, toxicology, and chemistry. Passionate about solving the issue of plastic pollution, Martin actively communicates his research and advises policymakers, including in the negotiations for a global plastics treaty. He earned his PhD from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, in 2013 for research on endocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastics, where he later led a junior group studying freshwater microplastics. Since 2017, he has continued his plastic pollution research at NTNU. Learn more at www.biotox.de.

Associate Professor Phoebe Stapleton, Rutgers University

Dr. Phoebe Stapleton is an Associate Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and a resident member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute of Rutgers University. She completed both her graduate and postdoctoral training at West Virginia University focusing on microvascular physiology and inhalation toxicology, respectively. Her laboratory focuses on the cardiovascular implications of maternal exposure to nano-sized particles during pregnancy, identifying the maternal, fetal, and offspring outcomes associated with these exposures. Most recently, she has focused on the effects of micro- and nanoplastic exposures during pregnancy.  

Dr Jane Muncke, Food Packaging Forum Foundation

Jane Muncke holds a doctorate degree in environmental toxicology and a MSc in environmental science from the ETH Zurich. In 2012 she co-founded the charitable Food Packaging Forum Foundation (FPF) in Zurich, Switzerland. FPF is a research and science communication organization focusing on chemicals in all types of food contact materials. Before leaving academia, she was a scientific associate at Eawag, the Swiss Aquatic Science Institute, collaborating in various different research projects, including endocrine disruption in developing zebrafish. Jane has extensive experience as science communicator and presenter and teaches live communication skills to scientists.

Professor Da Chen, Jinan University

Da Chen is a Professor and Dean of the College of Environment and Climate, Jinan University. He graduated from The College of William and Mary (U.S.) with a Ph.D. in marine science and conducted post-doctoral research at the National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment and Climate Change Canada. His research focuses on the development of advanced analytical techniques to characterize human exposure to contaminants of emerging concern (including organic compounds and micro/nano-plastics) and explore potential human health risks from contaminant exposure. He has published more than 240 papers in premier scientific journals such as Nature Sustainability, PNAS Nexus, Advanced Science, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Environmental Science & Technology. He is currently an Associate Editor for Environment International and Journal of Environmental Exposure Assessment. He has been awarded with National Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award and several other provincial or organisational awards.

Dr Shoji Nakayama, National Institute for Environmental Studies

Dr Shoji Nakayama holds MD and PhD degrees. He is certified as Public Health Specialist/Supervisor by Japan Board of Public Health and Social Medicine. He serves Associate Editor of Environment International as well as Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. In 2005, Dr Nakayama was invited by the US Environmental Protection Agency and spent 6 years to conduct exposure research on contaminants of emerging concern. In 2011, Dr Nakayama joined the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan. Currently he is Deputy Director of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study Programme Office. He also holds Professor title at the St. Luke’s International University, the University of Tsukuba and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr Nakayama is a lead exposure scientist for the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), which is a longitudinal birth cohort study involving 100,000 mothers and children. He is devoted to human biomonitoring research. Exposome research is his most recent activity. He collaborates with US, Canada, EU and Asian researchers to advance and promote children’s environmental health.