Chemicals in everyday life
Chemicals are an integral part of modern daily life. They are used in a wide array of products and processes and play an indispensable role in economic growth and social development. Millions of people throughout the world have led richer, more productive, and more comfortable lives because of the thousands of chemicals that are found on the market today.
However, as the number and volume of chemicals manufactured, used, traded and disposed of rise, so do the risks they bring to human health and the environment. According to the Global Chemicals Output report developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), there are several trends of concern for the sector. These include:
- Increasing production, use and disposal of chemicals in developing countries, shifting away from highly industrialized countries;
- Increasing development and adoption of new chemicals and materials with novel properties and unknown risks;
- Increasing extraction of metals, minerals, fossil fuels and other natural resources for chemicals production, compounded by increasing use of chemicals for extraction;
- Increasing likelihood of severe, anthropogenic climate change implicating greater use of chemicals for adaptation and the release of sequestered toxic chemicals;
- Increasing integration of chemicals into common products, agriculture, and manufacturing processes;
- Increasing chemical emissions from major industrial sectors, including energy generation and cement production;
- Increasing prospects for widespread and multifaceted exposures of people and environment to chemicals of high and unknown concern;
- Increasing financial costs to chemical manufacturers and downstream chemical users due to higher insurance rates, loss of productivity and a deterioration of goodwill; and the
- Increasing burden of diseases linked to chemical exposure on individuals and the public-at-large [1].
Chemical exposure
The release of chemicals and wastes leads to environmental pollution or the contamination of air, water and soil, and is considered to be the largest cause of disease and death in developing countries. For example, emissions from power plants, cars and incineration of wastes pollute outdoor air. Heavy metals from mining and informal electronic waste recycling contaminate soil and water, while wastewater from residential and commercial establishments, such as tanneries, pollutes local river systems.
The transport and transformation processes of these chemicals in the environment eventually lead to the exposure of the general public. Increased incidence of diseases such as stroke, cancers, infections and developmental and neurological disabilities occur particularly in the most vulnerable sectors.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), approximately 8.9 million deaths can be attributed to air, water and soil pollution in 2012—94% of which comes from developing countries [2]. Regionally, the WHO found that low- and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia had the largest environment-related disease burden in the same year, with a total of 3.8 million deaths mostly attributable to indoor and outdoor air pollution [3].
In Metro Manila alone, 4,000 Filipinos die each year because of air pollution, and an additional 90,000 suffer from severe chronic bronchitis, costing the government 7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of health costs.
In the past four decades, the global chemical industry has experienced dramatic growth in terms of output—from USD 171 billion in the 1970s to USD 4.1 trillion at present. This growth can be considered a double edged-sword, bringing an increasing burden of diseases linked to chemical exposure, as well as increasing financial costs related to loss of productivity and the inaction in managing chemicals in an environmentally sound manner.
Chemical pollution and sustainable development
Chemicals pollution is a cross-cutting issue—reflecting the interconnectedness of the socio-economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and putting people and their rights at the center of the discussion. For instance, Principle 1 of the Stockholm Declaration states, “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being.” This will only be realized through the sound management of chemicals and wastes.
As Mr. Klaus Toepfer, former Executive Director of UNEP argued, “human rights cannot be secured in a degraded or polluted environment. The fundamental right to life is threatened by soil degradation… exposures to toxic chemicals, hazardous wastes and contaminated drinking water.”
On the other hand, Principle 10 of the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro views the achievement of human rights not only as an end goal of environmental protection, but also as a tool to achieve the principal aim of protecting human health. Access to information, public participation and access to judicial and administrative proceedings should be guaranteed because “environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens.”
In the European Union, this is reflected in the 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, better known as the Aarhus Convention which entered into force in 2001.
Framing chemicals pollution as a human rights concern would require the understanding of the several treaties and declarations on the fields of human rights and environmental protection and national constitutional provisions, laws and jurisprudence linking the three topics to mainstream the issue to the consciousness of the general public. More importantly, this can lead to the recognition that those who pollute or destroy the natural environment are not just committing a crime against nature, but are also violating human rights.
Extensive treaty provisions and case laws have shown the benefits of using a rights-based approach to environmental and health problems. As one of the regions most impacted by chemicals pollution, it is crucial for governmental and non-governmental institutions to embrace the rights-based approach and utilize human rights tools toward the achievement of the sound management of chemicals and wastes.
[1] United Nations Environment Programme. (2013). Global Chemicals Outlook Toward Sound Management of Chemicals: Trends and Changes. Retrieved from http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Portals/9/Mainstreaming/GCO/The%20Global%20Chemical%20Outlook_Full%20report_15Feb2013.pdf
[2] Global Alliance on Health and Pollution. (n.d.). Pollution: The Silent Killer of Millions in Poor Countries. Retrieved from http://www.gahp.net/new/wpcontent/uploads/2014/12/GAHP_Pollution2Sheet.pdf
[3] World Health Organization. 2016. An Estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/deaths-attributable-to-unhealthy-environments/en/
Photo: Leonard Reyes/BAN Toxics