Chemical Pollution of the Aquatic Environment and Health

The dramatic increases in industrialisation over the past three centuries have changed human exposures to both natural and synthetic chemicals. There is mounting unease about the risk to the environment and human health of synthetic chemicals, on top of the well-known risks associated with both naturally occurring and man-made chemicals when at high concentrations (e.g. poisoning from natural arsenic concentrations in groundwater in Bangladesh and mercury from industrial discharges in Minamata, Japan, respectively). Modern industrial chemicals can be persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate in wildlife, with trace concentrations released into the aquatic environment building up over time and polluting the food chain. Cocktails of these chemicals have unknown effects that even at very low levels may still have significant and widespread adverse environmental and human health consequences (e.g. cancer risk and impaired reproductive development) from chronic exposure. Most recently, microplastics and nanoparticles in the aquatic environment have been recognised as a threat, both directly and as vectors for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) adsorbed onto their surfaces. Although some progress has been made in managing risks to human health from exposure to aquatic chemical pollution, we must be ever aware of the changing nature of these threats.