Council on Depollution

While many of the chemicals and materials are perfectly safe, others are not. The list of harmful chemicals that are allowed into our homes - our safe haven - is alarmingly long, including formaldehyde in shampoo, plastic microbeads in toothpaste, phthalates in food packaging, heavy metals in our children's toys, an assortment of endocrine disruptors and carcinogens in non-stick pans and stain repellents in furniture, ... and many more. The truth is that we are constantly exposed to a cocktail of hazardous chemicals.

• 287 chemicals in cord blood. Of the 287 chemicals detected in umbilical cord blood, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal developments in animal tests.
• Sperm count decline. Men in the Western world produce half the amount of sperm their fathers did 40 years ago - scientists link the decline in part to exposure to toxic chemicals. The situation is not much better in other parts of the world, as studies from China and Africa report.
• EUR 163 billion per year. The disease-related costs of endocrine disruptors are estimated to be EUR 163 billion every year in Europe - and this estimate is based on a study of fewer than 5 percent of all known hormone disrupting chemicals!
• 85% of Europeans are concerned. 85 percent of Europeans are worried about how chemicals affect their health.

In women and girls, studies show that exposure to toxic chemicals leads to girls entering puberty earlier and increasing the risk of getting breast cancer later in life. Other studies link exposure to toxic chemicals to a loss of four or five IQ points in children.

As for the environment, hazardous chemicals and other, often invisible, pollutants have been released in large quantities across the Earth, accumulating in nature and wildlife and threatening to disrupt the Earth's ecosystems. A recent expedition to the Antarctic found microplastic waste in seawater and persistent hazardous chemicals in freshly fallen snow in these most remote and pristine of habitats on the planet.

The economic costs and losses from chemical exposure and pollution on a global scale are enormous. In Europe alone, the disease-related costs of endocrine disruptors are estimated to be EUR 163 billion every year. Another way of understanding economic losses is through loss in earning potential of an individual: in an American study, it is estimated that each decrease in IQ points from chemical exposure translates to a 2% or USD 20,000 loss in earning potential over lifetime. With a loss of four or five IQ points, that's likely USD 100,000 per person. This amount can be very significant for the person in question, even more so for society as a whole.

Harmful chemicals in consumer products also complicate recycling opportunities. There is a growing list of examples where good intentions to recycle materials have led to grave results - like the high levels of dioxins found in children's toys made from recycled plastic. In other words, the goal of a Circular Economy cannot be reached when hazardous chemicals are in the mix.