One Thing After Another?

 

Deep Science Ventures has compiled a report on chemical pollution's effect on human health and the environment. It's claimed that its threat level is of a similar order to that of climate change. The general public, however, are relatively 'in the dark' about the dangers posed by chemicals in the air they breath, the water they drink, the foods they eat and the products and furnishings in their homes. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/06/chemical-pollution-threat-comparable-climate-change-scientists-warn-novel-entities). The report points out that more than 100 million 'novel entities' (chemicals not found in nature) have been created by industrial economies. They include gases from exhaust systems, pesticides, synthetic chemicals (some 3600) derived from materials used in food preparation and packaging, as well as the now ubiquitous PFASs ('the so-called 'forever chemicals'). Many have been linked (correlationally or causally) with impacts on human reproduction, immune, neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, liver, kidney and metabolic systems. The human health consequences can range from ADHD, infertility to cancers. The report advocates paying at least as much attention to chemical pollution, as is currently given to climate change.