Dirty Earth, Diseased Hearts: Soil, Water, and Plastic Pollution in the Cardiovascular Exposome

Healthy soils and clean water are essential for human survival, yet, both are increasingly compromised by chemical and plastic pollution. This preventable crisis causes an estimated 9 million premature deaths each year, including about 0.9 million linked to soil pollution and 1.3 million to water pollution. In 2019 alone, pollution contributed to 5.5 million cardiovascular deaths, underscoring its role in the global burden of non-communicable disease. A key underrecognized driver is the rapid rise in plastic production and plastic-associated chemicals. Global plastic output has increased more than 250-fold since 1950 and is projected to nearly triple by 2060, while less than 10% is effectively recycled. As highlighted by the Lancet Countdown on health and plastics, plastics threaten human health across their lifecycle, from fossil fuel extraction to waste, fragmentation, and environmental persistence. Soils and water systems are increasingly contaminated by heavy metals, pesticides, persistent synthetic chemicals, and micro- and nanoplastics. These pollutants degrade soil, reduce agricultural productivity, contaminate food chains, and spread through aquatic ecosystems, thereby amplifying disease risk. Micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in human blood, placenta, brain, and cardiovascular tissues, raising concern about biological effects. These exposures are drivers of cardiovascular disease. Despite their chemical diversity, they converge on shared mechanisms, including oxidative stress, inflammation, endocrine disruption, and circadian dysregulation. Their persistence reflects policy failure. Reducing soil, water, and plastic pollution must become a central pillar of cardiovascular prevention through enforceable, lifecycle-based policies that protect human health. #These authors contributed equally and should be considered as joint first and joint last authors.