Awash in chemicals

Man-made chemicals have exceeded the limits of safety for the planet. This statement comes from the first-ever major scientific warning based upon a study of the dangers posed by the flood of chemicals across the globe as three hundred fifty thousand (350,000) chemicals slosh throughout the planet.

“We have overwhelming evidence of negative impacts on Earth systems, including biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles,” according to Bethanie Carney Almroth, University of Gothenburg. According to Bethanie Carney Almroth: “The impacts that we’re starting to see today are large enough to be impacting crucial functions of planet Earth and its systems,”

It is of utmost concern that the evidence of harm to the planet is based upon partial information because so little is known about the ingredients and manufacturing and toxicity of the mass of chemicals. Indeed, there’s heightened reason for concern because ‘what is known’ is more than enough to draw ‘alarming conclusions,’ even though the great mass is not thoroughly understood, yet.

Most of the 350,000 chemicals have been developed over the past 70 years. Thus, impact on the planet is only starting to become obvious. Yet, analyzing only ‘what is known’ the scientists are already saying; “Enough is enough… Maybe we have to put a cap on production.” In fact, they’ve gone so far as to recommend: “Caps on production are urgently needed.”

Across the board, chemicals negatively affect already stressed ecosystems. Pesticides kill living organisms that are absolutely crucial to ongoing life-giving ecosystems, interfere with hormones, disrupt growth and metabolism, as well as reproductive cycles of all vertebrates as well as invertebrates. This rapidly evolving understanding of the dangers of chemicals is similar to the conundrum surrounding greenhouse gas emissions, but there is a marked difference in scale, as worldwide chemicals are found six times more prevalent than greenhouse gas emissions. That’s an enormous difference in absolute numbers.

Yet, there is no chemical advocacy group analogue to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). There is no NGO advocating chemical testing. Meanwhile, testing for toxicity is spotty and almost totally lacking in effectiveness and mostly confined to industry self-regulation. Not-for-profits are not rallying the public to investigate chemical toxicity of ecosystems. No placards, no rallies, no parking lot signature gatherings, no TV commentaries, no editorials, no marches, no extinction rebellion groups, no denier groups, in fact, not much critical information is found anywhere about the dangers behind this massive flooding of chemicals all across the globe. It is like an isolated event but yet gargantuan in breadth and destructiveness, as humanity poisons itself.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two million people or 5,500 per day died in 2019 due to unintentional exposure to hazardous chemicals. Chemicals are a bigger killer than wars, eg, the First and Second World Wars averaged roughly 100 and 200 fatalities per day but wars do end, whereas the universe of chemicals increases by 1,000 new chemicals per year as roughly 5,500 unintentional deaths per day continue, saying nothing about the hidden ongoing damage to the integrity of ecosystems across the globe as chemicals slowly work away at damage to life-sourcing ecosystems.

Excerpted: ‘Dangerously Awash in Chemicals’.

Courtesy: Counterpunch.org