{"id":393758,"date":"2025-08-08T11:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=393758"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:35:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:35:26","slug":"guardian-downgrades-the-climate-crisis-chemical-pollution-a-comparable-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=393758","title":{"rendered":"Guardian Downgrades the Climate Crisis, Chemical Pollution a \u201cComparable\u201d Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Eric Worrall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazing how many other problems are just as important as the crisis of our time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Chemical pollution a threat comparable to climate change, scientists warn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 million \u2018novel entity\u2019 chemicals are in circulation, with health impact not widely recognised<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damien Gayle<\/a> Wed 6 Aug 2025 14.00 AEST<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chemical pollution is \u201ca threat to the thriving of humans and nature of a similar order as climate change\u201d but decades behind global heating in terms of public awareness and action, a report has warned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

The industrial economy has created more than 100 million<\/a> \u201cnovel entities\u201d, or chemicals not found in nature, with somewhere between<\/a> 40,000 and 350,000 in commercial use and production, the report says. But the environmental and human health effects of this widespread contamination of the biosphere are not widely appreciated, in spite of a growing body of evidence linking chemical toxicity with effects ranging from ADHD to infertility to cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI suppose that\u2019s the biggest surprise for some people,\u201d Harry Macpherson, senior climate associate at Deep Science Ventures (DSV), which carried out the research, told the Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe 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\u2019s really great knowledge and huge due diligence on the chemical safety of these things. But it really isn\u2019t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, chemical toxicity as an environmental issue receives just a fraction of the funding that is devoted to climate change, a disproportionality that Macpherson says should change. \u201cWe obviously don\u2019t want less funding going into the climate and the atmosphere,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this we think \u2013 really, proportionally \u2013 needs more attention.\u201d

\u2026Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/aug\/06\/chemical-pollution-threat-comparable-climate-change-scientists-warn-novel-entities<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The report \u201cToxicity: The Invisible Tsunami\u201d is apparently available here<\/a>, but as of the time of writing their website was unresponsive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this \u201cInvisible Tsunami\u201d of toxic chemicals is having an impact on human health, it is certainly not showing up in any life expectancy graphs I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Line<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019m not suggesting that chemical toxicity is something which should be ignored, there are good reasons why dangerous poisons like\u00a0Thallium rat bait<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tetra-ethyl lead<\/a>\u00a0fuel additives were discontinued. But spending huge money monitoring every imaginable chemical, that money has to come from somewhere. Spending billions of dollars on a wild goose chase, making life less affordable for people who are already struggling, would itself have a substantial large-scale impact on human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazing how many other problems are just as important as the crisis of our time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":393763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"Discover how chemical pollution poses a threat comparable to climate change, affecting health and the environment. Learn the shocking truths today.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Chemical Pollution: A Rising Threat on Par with Climate Change","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691822700,691818056,691818241,691837116,691828575,691833019,691820187,691821040],"class_list":{"0":"post-393758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-chemical-pollution","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-packaging","12":"tag-plastics","13":"tag-potsdam-institute-for-climate-impact-research-pik-2","14":"tag-the-guardian-2","15":"tag-world-health-organization-who","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQPCBPSbue5pY8h-Z1zomgmrZ6R147OEdx7W3N2vC6rTP0ISSPGwi1OxPiq_VWuAfvChsdPzREWQQr5_CaVxuaaTt_zhxHb_FRHYVAzZCm_HTcKWdD8cmSVMfrRb3EBAYB8x306AeouzHkHxjGWJDXjGLq1U2g-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1EqW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":245201,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=245201","url_meta":{"origin":393758,"position":0},"title":"Climate Change Lexicon: Apply More Heat","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Childish attempts to raise the\u00a0temperature","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0pexels-photo-1852389.webp?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0pexels-photo-1852389.webp?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0pexels-photo-1852389.webp?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/0pexels-photo-1852389.webp?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":278451,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278451","url_meta":{"origin":393758,"position":1},"title":"Sorry, Guardian and Reuters, Island Nations Have No Climate Case","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guardian story, \u201cSmall island nations take high-emitting countries to court to protect the ocean,\u201d and Reuters article, \u201cIsland states seek climate protection from Law of the Sea,\u201d are just two of the news stories today covering a case brought by the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS),\u00a0which includes as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate crisis\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate crisis","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-crisis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0island-countries.jpg?fit=1200%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0island-countries.jpg?fit=1200%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0island-countries.jpg?fit=1200%2C685&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0island-countries.jpg?fit=1200%2C685&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0island-countries.jpg?fit=1200%2C685&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":210695,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=210695","url_meta":{"origin":393758,"position":2},"title":"RIP James Lovelock, The Climate Activist Who Admitted He was Wrong","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Essay by Eric Worrall h\/t\u00a0Vuk;\u00a0James Lovelock\u2018s claim to fame was his creation of the famous\u00a0Gaia Hypothesis. 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