Chemical pollution: A growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity

Ravi Naidu; Bhabananda Biswas; Ian R Willett; Julian Cribb; Brajesh Kumar Singh; C Paul Nathanail; Frederic Coulon; Kirk T Semple; Kevin C Jones; Adam Barclay; Robert John Aitken

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106616

Chemical pollution: A growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity

Environ Int. 2021 Nov:156:106616. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106616. Epub 2021 May 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), The University of Newcastle, ATC Building, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), ATC Building, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Ravi.Naidu@newcastle.edu.au.
² Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), ATC Building, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; Future Industries Institute, UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
³ School of Agriculture & Food Systems, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia.
⁴ Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (as an adjunct), Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia.
⁵ Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2753, Australia.
⁶ Land Quality Management Ltd, Nottingham NG7 2TU, United Kingdom.
⁷ Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield MK43 0AL, United Kingdom.
⁸ Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom.
⁹ Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), ATC Building, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
¹⁰ Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Reproductive Science, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.

PMID: 33989840
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106616

Abstract

Anthropogenic chemical pollution has the potential to pose one of the largest environmental threats to humanity, but global understanding of the issue remains fragmented. This article presents a comprehensive perspective of the threat of chemical pollution to humanity, emphasising male fertility, cognitive health and food security. There are serious gaps in our understanding of the scale of the threat and the risks posed by the dispersal, mixture and recombination of chemicals in the wider environment. Although some pollution control measures exist they are often not being adopted at the rate needed to avoid chronic and acute effects on human health now and in coming decades. There is an urgent need for enhanced global awareness and scientific scrutiny of the overall scale of risk posed by chemical usage, dispersal and disposal.

Keywords: Chemical pollution; Endocrine disruptors; Environmental awareness; Environmental contamination; Toxicity.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Environmental Pollution* / prevention & control
Humans
Male