Toxic Nation | Pollution. It's In You.

A recent publication by the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) discusses the many ways that climate change can directly impact human chemical exposures.

To date, little has been published addressing how climate change may alter human exposure to chemicals, who is most at risk in the world, and the actions that we need to take to reduce the potential negative health impacts. This is a very important time for Canadians to be discussing how our future federal government will address climate change as well as to pollution of our bodies and our environment.

The report by the IFCS titled, Managing Chemicals in a Changing Climate to Protect Health explains that changes in temperature, wind, and rainfall will affect the spread and break-down of chemicals. Floods may increase urban and agricultural chemical run-off. “Increased temperatures will cause volatile chemicals to disperse more quickly in the air and some chemicals will degrade more quickly potentially creating local hot spots of exposure.”

As we develop strategies to reduce our impact on climate change, we should incorporate tools to strengthen and improve systems to ensure chemical safety. The last thing we want is to create new toxic chemicals or persistent health problems caused by our solutions to climate-related problems.

The IFCS urges us to analyze climate change solutions with tools that address the powerful impact of synthetic chemicals on our environment and bodies.

To read the IFCS publication click here.