All the chemical pollutants that are spreading on the earth now threaten the stability of the global ecosystems that define humanity.
– Quoted by scientists describing the study Defender.
Plastic poses a particularly high risk with about 350,000 synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, industrial compounds and antibiotics.
Plastic pollution can now be seen from Mount Everest to the deepest depression in the ocean.
The authors of the study point out that man-made changes over the past ten thousand years have pushed chemical pollution beyond the boundaries of moving the Earth out of its static environment.
Chemical pollution threatens the entire planet, thereby damaging the biological and bodily processes that sustain life. Pesticides, for example, kill many pests that are essential to all ecosystems, including providing clean air, water and food.
Production of chemicals has increased fifty-fold since 1950 and is projected to triple again by 2050. The rate of spread of polluting chemicals is much faster than keeping within safe limits.
Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, PhD applicant and research assistant at the Stockholm Regression Center (SRC), was a member of the study group.
Mankind has long known that chemical pollution is a bad thing, but so far we have not thought about it globally, said Sarah Cornell, associate professor and leading researcher at the SRC. However, the study points out how human pollution replaces the planet with chemical pollution, especially plastic pollution.
Researchers say it is not easy to determine whether chemical pollution has crossed the global border because there is no pre-human starting point for comparison. In addition, a large number of approximately 350,000 chemicals have been registered for use, and only a small portion of them have been tested for safety.
Therefore, a combination of research measurements was used to assess the situation. The rate of production of fast-growing chemicals and the fact that these products are released to the environment much faster than they can be explored by the authorities can be monitored or analyzed. The evaluation also took into account the known adverse effects of certain chemicals.
Although data are limited in many areas, researchers say that’s just what’s happening
Collected evidence suggests that the planet’s chemical pollution has crossed the border.
Bethany Carney Almroth, a professor at the University of Gothenburg who is a member of the research team, has shown that things are going in the wrong direction.
The total weight of plastic is much higher than the weight of mammals living today. This is a clear sign that we have crossed a boundary
He explained.
Villarupia-Gomes considered:
The transition to a circular economy would be very important, i.e. the products and products would have to be modified so that they could be reused and not wasted.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, warns that clear controls and clear controls are needed in the future on the production and emissions of chemicals, as well as controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
Chemical pollution is the fifth global limit of nine, and scientists say we have already crossed the Earth. These include global warming, destruction of natural habitats, depletion of organisms, and excessive pollution of nitrogen and phosphorus.
(Cover: Plastic pollution in Indonesia in 2019. Photo: Andrew Call / Norphoto / Getty Images)
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