Impacts of plastic products used in daily life on the environment and human health: What is known?

•Plastics used in daily life are of extreme scientific and societal concern.•PE, PP, PET, PS, PA and PVC are the most common polymers used in our daily life.•Plastics can be found in the environment and food sources (exposure routes).•Daily use of plastics can cause toxic impacts on environment and human health.•Additives are more toxic than monomers to human-beings and wildlife. Plastics are indispensable and persistent materials used in daily life that can be fragmented into micro- or nanoplastics. They are long polymer chains mixed with additives that can be toxic when in contact with distinct species. The toxicity can result from polymer matrix, additives, degradation products and adsorbed contaminants. Notwithstanding, there is still an immense gap of information concerning the individual and mixed impacts of plastics. Hence, in this study, we characterize the most common plastic materials widely used in our daily life by its polymer type and compile the environmental and human health hazards of these polymers including the impacts of monomers, additives, degradation products and adsorbed contaminants based on literature review. In summary, polyvinyl chloride is the most toxic polymer type used daily (monomer and additives); additives are more toxic than monomers to wildlife and humans; and the most toxic additives are benzene, phthalates and lead stabilisers.