Effects of Chemical Pollution on Humans

We are exposed to a large number of synthetic chemical pollutants in our daily lives. On average we have 700 substances in our bodies that are not a natural part of human body chemistry.

In other words, mother nature didn’t put them there. So who did?

To put it short: The chemical industry. 250 billion tons of chemicals are produced a year and some of them find their way into our bloodstream and organs.

But surely, all these chemicals have been tested for harmful effects to us, you might think.

Well, no.

The testing done on chemicals is a joke

The number of chemical combinations that we are exposed to in the real world is staggeringly large. Yet, when testing of chemical substances is done, each chemical is tested individually rather than in combination with other real world chemicals.

Effects of Chemical Pollution on Human Health

One study found a chilling 420 known or suspected carcinogens in samples from human beings.

Another study of cord blood from newborn babies found an average of 200 industrial chemicals present in the blood. That means we are exposed to a large number of man-made chemicals before we are even born.  

A total of 287 different chemicals were identified in newborns of which:

• 180 can cause cancer
• 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system
• 208 can cause birth defects or abnormal development.

Not exactly harmless substances

More effects of chemicals on humans

Chemical pollution has many negative effects, including increased risk of cancer, disturbances of our hormone system, nervous system and reproductive system, and increased risk of miscarriage and birth defects.

“Studies on environmental causes of infertility and miscarriage demonstrate that consumer products and chemicals play a far bigger role than previously believed”.

- chem-tox.com

Significant decrease in male sperm counts

Statistics show that sperm counts have gone down 50% during the last 50 years. So-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our everyday lives are a big part of the explanation.

20-fold increase in infertility

Today, a staggering 100 out of every 1000 men are functionally infertile. This number is 15 times higher than it was in 1939.

The quality of sperm is also declining

About 85 percent of the sperm produced by a healthy man is DNA-damaged. Damaged sperm have been linked to a 300 percent increase in testicular cancer - a form of cancer that affects young men in their 20s and 30s.

Pesticides suspected cause of infertility

A study found that men who experience infertility work with pesticides 10 times more often than a control group of men who do not experience infertility. Global use of pesticides continues to increase.

What is the 'cocktail effect'?

The combined effect of several individually harmless chemicals has been shown to severely damage reproductive organs in rats. Or “0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 7 or 50” as the results are explained. One can only wonder what the 700 chemicals we all carry in our body can do.

Man-made chemicals are part of the explanation

Decreased sperm counts and reduced semen quality have been linked to the fact that we are being increasingly exposed to chemicals which mess up our hormone system (endocrine disruptors). For example, environmental exposures to phthalates have been linked to DNA damage in human sperm.

Research has shown that chemical exposure in our homes may affect sperm quality. The chemicals include flame-retardants and phthalates. Several studies found that these chemicals are linked with lowered sperm counts, poorer sperm movement and abnormally shaped sperm.

Dramatic drops in sperm counts

Research has found that sperm counts have dropped over 40 percent during the last half of the 20th century. These results have been confirmed by newer studies that concluded that the negative development has continued well into the 21st century with an average decline in male semen quality of 1.4 % from 1973 to 2011.

Check out the alarming documentary “The Disappearing Male”. Promo below.

The cocktail effect on humans is well documented

There is increasing evidence that combinations of low doses of toxic chemicals can be more harmful to humans than any of the chemicals alone. A study of the effects of chemicals at levels 10 to 100 times below safety standards found that the mix created significant harmful health effects.

“We have effectively shown that the cocktail effect is real”

- Pascale Mollier, French National Institute for Agricultural Research.

Mixtures of low levels of environmental toxins can double the toxic effect on human cells compared to the effects of the chemicals separately.

Considering that there are about 150,000 man-made chemicals on the market, it is extremely alarming that combinations of these chemicals - at levels far below official so-called safety levels - can create very harmful effects for humans.

The effects of the chemical pollution of humans are disturbing to say the least and include.

• Reproductive and hormone systems disorders
• Nervous systems disorders
• Abnormal development of children
• Cancer

The level of male infertility is 20 times higher than in the late 1930s. Exposure to chemical pollution is likely to be part of the cause.

We don’t know what tests are missing...

The huge number of chemicals used raises another fundamental question: what should we be testing for? Just a few decades ago, for example, endocrine disruption was not of concern. Who knows what we’ll be testing for in the years to come?

We must protect ourselves from ignorance

There really is no realistic hope of catching up, and testing all chemicals systematically. This is a strong argument for starting to apply the precautionary principle as a kind of “insurance policy” against our own ignorance.

The precautionary principle

The precautionary principle reverses the burden of proof and states that in the face of scientific uncertainty, the prudent stance is to restrict or prohibit an activity that may cause long-term or irreversible harm. Instead, materials known to be safe should be used.