Humans emit more than 250 billion tonnes of chemical substances a year, in a toxic avalanche that is harming people and life everywhere on the planet.
"Earth, and all life on it, are being saturated with man-made chemicals in an event unlike anything in the planet's entire history," says Julian Cribb, author of 'Surviving the 21st Century' (Springer International 2017).
"Every moment of our lives we are exposed to thousands of these substances. They enter our bodies with each breath, meal or drink we take, the clothes and cosmetics we wear, the things we encounter every day in our homes, workplaces and travel.
Mr Cribb says that the poisoning of the planet through man-made chemical emissions is probably the largest human impact – and the one that is least understood or regulated. It is one of ten major existential risks now confronting humanity, he describes in Surviving the 21st Century.
"The European Chemicals agency estimates there are more than 144,000 man-made chemicals in existence. The US Department of Health estimates 2000 new chemicals are being released every year. The UN Environment Program warns most of these have never been screened for human health safety," he says.
"The World Health Organisation estimates that 12 million people – one in 4 – die every year from diseases caused by 'air water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change and ultraviolet radiation', all of which result from human activity."
Examples of the toxic avalanche include:
Manufactured chemicals – 30 million tonnes a year
Plastic pollution of oceans – 8mt/yr
Hazardous waste – 400 mt/yr
Coal, oil, gas etc – 15 gigatonnes (billion tonnes) a year
Lost soil – 75 Gt/yr
Metals and materials – 75 Gt/yr
Mining and mineral wastes - <200 Gt/yr
Water (mostly contaminated with above wastes) – 9 trillion tonnes a year.
"Industrial toxins are now routinely found in new-born babies, in mother's milk, in the food chain, in domestic drinking water worldwide. They have been detected from the peak of Mt Everest (where the snow is so polluted it doesn't meet drinking water standards) to the depths of the oceans, from the hearts of our cities to the remotest islands.
"The mercury found in the fish we eat, and in polar bears in the Arctic, is fallout from the burning of coal and increases every year.
"There is global concern at the death of honeybees from agricultural pesticides and the potential impact on the world food supply, as well as all insect life
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