Chemical pollution

There are approaching 100,000 different human made chemical compounds in use around the world today, in millions of different products. Additional compounds are created as by-products of manufacturing. Chemicals are mainly a worry because of their impact on the health of humans and wildlife. Among those of greatest concern are toxic heavy metals like lead, organic pollutants that accumulate in tissues, and radioactive compounds. A handful of these are already controlled. For instance, the “dirty dozen” persistent organic pollutants – which include DDT PCBs and dioxins are controlled under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Compound. But the impact of most others remains undiagnosedl. And even apparently benign chemicals may combine to produce toxic effects greater than the sum of their individual effects.

One idea considered by Rockstrom’s group is that autism and ADHD in children may result from the widespread exposure to low concentrations of cocktails of these chemicals in the environment, creating what they call “a silent pandemic of subtle neuro-developmental disorders in children, possibly on a global scale”.

An all-encompassing “chemicals boundary” could be valuable, but, as the authors say, it is too early to say how or where it should be set.