Plastics are everywhere—they're even in you right now—and are making many of us sick. Now, global negotiators are fighting over whether that matters.

Delegates from around the world are gathering in Geneva for a critical round of negotiations aimed at securing the first global treaty to curb the mounting plastic pollution crisis.

After a failed attempt to finalize a global plastics treaty last year in Busan, South Korea, representatives from 170 countries began meeting in Geneva yesterday to negotiate a binding agreement on reducing plastic waste.