We talk about the perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylateda group of thousands of chemicals widely used in consumer and industrial applications, such as fire-fighting foams and hydrophobic and lipophobic coatings for textiles, paper and cookware.
The problem is that pVirtually everyone in industrialized countries has perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in their body.
And that exposure to these products has been associated with liver damage, hypertension, decreased immune response, decreased fertility, lower birth weight, and testicular and kidney cancer.
This explains it David Boyd, Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environmentin a latest report collected by the United Nations newsletter.
According to the author, in the European Union, health-related costs derived from eternal perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated substances range between 52,000 and 84,000 million euros per year, while the costs of treatment and recovery of soil and contaminated water ranges from 10,000 to 170,000 million euros.
Other more well-known forms of pollution come from the extraction, processing, distribution and burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), which produce huge volumes of pollution and toxic chemicals.
Fossil fuels, they refer, are also the main raw material for the highly polluting petrochemical and plastic industries.
Industrial agriculture pollutes the air, water, soil, and food chain with dangerous pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and drugs.
Other industries that produce huge volumes of pollution and toxic substances are mining and smelting, manufacturing, textiles, construction, and transportation.
sacrifice zones
The text also mentions the existence of environmental “sacrifice zones”, places whose residents suffer devastating consequences for their health and see their rights violated by living in pollution hotspots and highly contaminated areas.
In relation to this issue, the human rights rapporteur calls for its cleaning and draws attention to the intoxication suffered by the planet.
According to David R. Boyd, pollution and toxic substances “cause at least nine million premature deaths, double the number of deaths caused by the pandemic in its first 18 months.”
In fact, he points out, one in six deaths in the world is related to diseases caused by pollution, a figure that triples the sum of deaths from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and multiplies by 15 the deaths caused by wars, murders and other forms of violence.
Eternal substances: the planet is intoxicated
And it is that according to Boyd, “the intoxication of the planet Earth is intensifying”, and although he points out that there are some substances that have been prohibited or whose use is being eliminated, the production, use and disposal of dangerous chemical products, in general, continues to increase rapidly.
Every year hundreds of millions of tons of toxic substances are emitted or discharged into the air, water and soil.
Chemical production doubled between 2000 and 2017and is expected to double again by 2030 and triple by 2050, with most of the growth occurring in non-member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
According to him United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)the result of this growth will be increased exposure to risks and worsening health and environmental impacts.
“The world is struggling to deal with chemical threats then and now”, says Boyd, who has had the support for his report of the special rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste, Marcos Orellana.
For example, lead is still widely used despite its long-standing toxicity and devastating consequences for neurodevelopment in childhood..
Lead, for example, causes about a million deaths a year.“as well as devastating and irreversible damage to the health of millions of children,” say the sources
Recent concerns include such eternal chemicals, endocrine disruptors, microplastics, neonicotinoid pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceutical residues, and nanoparticles.
In the report, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council, the rapporteur makes a series of recommendations to the States, including urgently detoxifying the sacrifice zones and eliminating environmental injustices.
The Special Rapporteurs and the Working Groups form part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations human rights system, is the umbrella name for the Council’s independent investigative and monitoring mechanisms that deal with specific country situations or thematic issues around the world. .
The experts of the Special Procedures work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and provide their services in their individual capacity.
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