Impacts of Chemical Pollution

Health

Human exposure to hazardous chemicals is associated with a broad spectrum of serious health effects, including reproductive toxicity, neurological disorders, cancer, endocrine disruption and many more. We can be exposed via inhalation (breathing in), absorption (skin and eye contact) and by ingestion (eating or drinking). Due to the persistent nature of some substances, we are continually exposed to complex mixtures of both legacy and currently used substances. Lancet Commission has found pollution causes more premature deaths each year than wars and communicable disease (such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis) combined.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that around 2 million global deaths every year are attributed to chemical exposure and 53 million years of healthy lives are lost to death or disability ².

Chemical pollution also exacerbates societal inequalities, with women exposed to more hazardous chemicals than men (due to biological, social, and occupational factors³), poorer countries more than rich (due to air pollution, water and food sources ^4,5) and children are particularly sensitive to chemical exposure. For example women, children and infants are particularly vulnerable to the hormone-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols⁶.

Wildlife

Wildlife populations are being devastated by toxic chemicals that are part of our everyday life. Species are exposed to hazardous chemicals in many of the same ways we are, through their environment, air, water, and the food they consume. Chemical pollution is now one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the UK⁹ and globally¹⁰.

Decades after global restrictions were introduced, legacy chemicals such as PCBs that were used in electronics, continue to disrupt orca reproduction, while common pesticides still threaten UK insect populations¹¹. The scale of chemical pollution extends far beyond a single chemical or chemical group,  PFAS have now been detected in over 600 species worldwide¹².

Fidra’s webpage ‘Chemicals in Wildlife’ highlights UK species that are impacted.

Soil

Soils are exposed to chemical pollution through industrial emissions, the use of agrochemicals such as pesticides containing forever chemicals, PFAS and the application of sewage sludge as a fertiliser which is contaminated with PFAS, endocrine disrupting chemicals like bisphenols and microplastics.  Even the rain and air can deposit harmful chemicals onto the land. This contamination of soil with harmful chemicals has consequences for soil biological, chemical, and physical health, which can in turn impacts soils’ ability to grow crops and sustain life. A wide range of chemicals can accumulate in soil, many of which are persistent and resistant to degradation. For example, some PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ have been found to take over 1000 years to degrade under typical soil conditions¹³, and some PFAS have been shown to impair soil microbial community functions¹⁴ and reduce the diversity and connectivity of soil bacteria¹⁵. In fact, recent research¹⁶ has found that soil pollution was the leading cause of declines among organisms living underground.

Contaminated soils can also act as a secondary source of pollution, leaching chemicals into groundwater or releasing them into the atmosphere, extending their impact well beyond the original site of contamination.

For more information on how chemical pollution can impact soils, check out our soil health report and our sewage free soils project.

Water

Not a single river in England has reached ‘good chemical status’ – that means rivers are dangerously polluted with toxic chemicals, and only 16% of water bodies in Scotland have achieved ‘good chemical status’. The failure of UK waterways to meet good chemical status is a stark indicator of the scale of chemical pollution. Contaminants enter water from multiple sources including agricultural runoff, road runoff, industrial activities, and sewage overflows. Chemical contaminants are accumulating in rivers, lakes, and drinking water sources with risks to aquatic life and human health. The range of pollutants is broad and presence is high, for example pharmaceuticals have been found in 96% of monitored river locations in England’s National Parks¹⁷, while PFAS appear in 96% of surface water samples across England¹⁸. Aquatic ecosystems bear the brunt of chemical pressures, with consequences ranging from impaired fish reproduction^19, to antimicrobial resistance²⁰. It can also trigger ecosystem collapse, with the decline of key invertebrate species that are sensitive to toxic substances ²¹.

Climate Change

Climate change and chemical pollution are inextricably linked, and chemical exposure can reduce nature’s resilience to the climate crisis. Most industrial chemicals are made from fossil fuels and the chemical industry is a major energy user emitting greenhouse gases as well as other chemical pollution.

Climate change can alter the fate, spread, and toxicity of chemical pollutants within the environment. It can influence chemical exposure, for example if a novel pest was introduced to farmland, there may need to be increased use of pesticides. It can also affect how a plant or animal responds to chemicals in the environment, for example some pesticides have higher uptake rates in higher temperatures²². Changes in temperature can also speed up or slow down the rate at which a chemical transforms or degrades in the environment. Temperature can also impact toxicity, and a recent study found an antibiotic in the environment became much more harmful during a heatwave²³. This study highlighted that safety tests for new chemicals do not account for the potential impacts of climate change – urging both regulation and testing to be more comprehensive on this topic.  Climate change can make ecosystems more sensitive to chemical pollution as well as increasing chemical pollution itself. Extreme weather and flooding can increase surface runoff levels or landfill leaching, polluting water bodies, while drought can lead to increased concentrations of pollutants in rivers as water levels drop. In short, chemical pollution contributes to climate change and climate change can make chemical pollution and its impact worse.

Waste and Circular Economy

As we try to limit resource use and increase circularity the impacts of chemicals cannot be ignored.  Harmful chemicals and a lack of transparency on chemical use in products create a barrier to a safe circular economy. The use of toxic chemicals can render an otherwise recyclable product toxic waste. For example, due to the potential presence of banned toxic chemical flame retardants in UK furniture, end of life sofas must be incinerated, at high cost to environment and local authorities. Toxic chemicals in products can can also contaminate recycled materials, for example the harmful hormone disrupting chemicals in receipts have been found in toilet roll and pizza boxes made with recycled paper, increasing exposure routes. There are further examples and solutions in our report on building a safe circular economy.

Harmful chemicals are limiting the reuse of products, creating a chemical exposure risk for workers in the recycling sector and undermining confidence in the safety recycled materials. Without adequate information on product chemical content, we simply do not know what is safe to reuse and what is not. Ending harmful chemical use wherever possible and increasing transparency are needed to build a safe circular economy.