A major scientific report released this week has raised the alarm over chemical pollution, describing it as a planetary-scale crisis on par with climate change.
The report, commissioned by Deep Science Ventures (DSV), a research and innovation group focused on tackling global challenges through science-driven solutions, highlights the growing threat posed by so-called "novel entities"— the millions of synthetic chemicals released into the environment through industrial activity, agriculture, and consumer products.
Scientists say these substances, ranging from plastics and pesticides to flame retardants and PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances), are increasingly found across ecosystems, in drinking water, soil, air, and even in rain.
Many of these chemicals are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, and they’re now so widespread that they have breached what experts call a "planetary boundary"— a scientific threshold beyond which environmental stability can no longer be guaranteed.
“Maybe people think that when you walk down the street breathing the air; you drink your water, you eat your food; you use your personal care products, your shampoo, cleaning products for your house, the furniture in your house — a lot of people assume that there’s really great knowledge and huge due diligence on the chemical safety of these things,” Harry Macpherson, a senior climate associate at DSV told the Guardian.
“But it really isn’t the case.”
The scale of the problem is staggering.
More than 100 million synthetic compounds have been registered, with an estimated 40,000 to 350,000 in commercial use today. These substances are largely unregulated or inadequately tested, with new ones entering the market far faster than safety agencies can evaluate them.
Meanwhile, over 3,600 synthetic chemicals from food contact materials are found within human bodies globally.
Research has linked low-dose chemical exposures to a litany of health concerns, including cancer, infertility, metabolic disease, developmental disorders, and immune dysfunction.
Complicating matters further, traditional toxicology models often miss the subtle but serious effects that certain chemicals, such as endocrine disruptors, can cause even at minute concentrations.
PFAS, sometimes called "forever chemicals," are of particular concern.
Ubiquitous in non-stick cookware, food packaging, clothing, and firefighting foams, these substances degrade so slowly that they are now detectable in nearly every human tested, as well as in rainwater around the globe.
Scientists say that in many places, PFAS levels in the environment now exceed safety thresholds set by health agencies.
Despite these clear dangers, the chemical pollution crisis has received a fraction of the public attention and funding afforded to climate change.
DSV’s report notes that chemical safety research accounts for just 0.1% of what’s spent on climate solutions, even though the consequences could be similarly catastrophic.
The authors of the report are calling for an urgent global response, including stronger regulation, global caps on harmful chemical production, and a massive shift toward "safe-by-design" materials that break down naturally and don’t accumulate in ecosystems or human bodies.
In the meantime, consumers can play a role by demanding safer products, avoiding items made with harmful plastics or synthetic additives, and supporting legislation that mandates greater transparency and accountability in chemical production.
