A new study in e Bulletin o the Warld Halth Organisation warns aat e single-eese design o lateral flow tests his led tae an unseen waste o plastic. Researchers fae Heriot-Watt University an e University o Edinburgh leuked hard at 21 COVID-19 test kits an fun aat ilka kit eeses atween sax an near 40 gram o plastic. They urge test makkers tae trim doon excess plastic ithoot hinnerin halth gains.

E study shaws great scowth for eesin less plastic. Target product profiles, draan up for tae guide test makkers, fix ideas sic as cost, wecht, an size. Yet nae mony o this profiles mention foo tests hurt e land. Professor Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas, co-lead o Heriot-Watt’s Global Research Institute in Health & Care Technologies, said: “We hae fun few target product profiles aat mention e environmental impact o tests, an neen gie quantitative measures. We want iss profiles tae include a limit o fower gram o plastic eese in e lateral flow tests cassettes, for example. Oor study shawed aat wis e average wecht o plastic in test cassettes, sae it’s achievable. We howp iss will be teen up as policy an an industry staundart.”

Professor Alice Street fae the University o Edinburgh stressed, “Improvin access tae essential medical testin shouldna come at e expense o environmental sustainability. Oor findins shaw aat reducin plastic waste in test kits is baith feasible an necessary.” Wi mair nor twa billion tests made ilka year, an millions o HIV an malaria tests bocht in 2023, e tests hae brocht great care but a muckle burden on waste systems.

In places wi peer waste-handlin, eesed test cassettes tend tae eyn up in dumps or watterweys, or they are brunt an fill e air wi unwanted reek. Even in strang waste systems, nae mony o this plastics find a wey back intae eese.

E fu study, cryed “Mass o Components an Material Distribution in Lateral Flow Assay Kits,” is set oot in e Bulletin o the Warld Halth Organisation.