A. Trade-off b. For one and all c. Chronic problem

1.

Chemicals are a frequent pollutant. When we think of chemical contamination it is often images of events like Bhopal (1) that come to mind.

But the problem is widespread. One study says 7-20% of cancers are attributable to poor air and pollution in homes and workplaces.

The WHO, concerned about chemicals that persist and build up in the body, especially in the young, says we may "be conducting a large-scale experiment with children's health".

Some man-made chemicals, endocrine disruptors(2) like phthalates(3) and nonylphenol(4) - a breakdown product(5) of spermicides, cosmetics and detergents - are blamed for causing changes in the genitals of some animals.

Affected species include polar bears - so not even the Arctic is immune. And the chemicals climb the food chain, from fish to mammals - and to us.

About 70,000 chemicals are on the market, with around 1,500 new ones appearing annually. At least 30,000 are thought never to have been comprehensively tested for their possible risks to people.

2.

But the snag is that modern society demands many of them, and some are essential for survival.

So while we invoke the precautionary principle, which always recommends erring on the side of caution, we have to recognise there will be trade-offs to be made.

Pic. 31. Chemical pollution was blamed for killing fish in Kankaria Lake in Ahmadabad, India

The pesticide DDT does great damage to wildlife and can affect the human nervous system, but can also be effective against malaria. Where does the priority lie?

The industrialised world has not yet cleaned up the mess it created, but it is reaping the benefits of the pollution it has caused. It can hardly tell the developing countries that they have no right to follow suit.

Another complication in tackling pollution is that it does not respect political frontiers. There is a UN convention on transboundary air pollution, but that cannot cover every problem that can arise between neighbours, or between states which do not share a border.

Perhaps the best example is climate change - the countries of the world share one atmosphere, and what one does can affect everyone.

3.

Pic. 32. A recent study detailed the plastic litter that pollutes the marine environment

One of the principles that is supposed to apply here is simple - the polluter pays.

Sometimes it is obvious who is to blame and who must pay the price. But it is not always straightforward to work out just who is the polluter, or whether the rest of us would be happy to pay the price of stopping the pollution.

One way of cleaning up after ourselves would be to throw less away, designing products to be recycled or even just to last longer.

Previous generations worked on the assumption that discarding our waste was a proper way to be rid of it, so we used to dump nuclear materials and other potential hazards at sea, confident they would be dispersed in the depths.

We now think that is too risky because, as one author wrote, "there's no such place as 'away' - and there's no such person as the 'other'".

Ask not for whom the bell tolls(6) - it tolls for thee(7), and for me.

1. Bhopal is a city in central India, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state and of the former state of Bhopal: site of a poisonous gas leak from a US-owned factory, which killed over 7000 people in 1984 and was implicated in a further 15 000 deaths afterwards.

2. Endocrine disruptors – вещества, нарушающие деятельность желез внутренней секреции.

3. Phthalate - фталат (соль или эфир фталевой кислоты).

4. Nonylphenol – нонилфенол.

5. Breakdown product - продукт распада.

6. The bell tolls for smb. (smth.) - пришёл конец кому-л. (чему-л.).

7. Thee – уст. косвенный падеж от thou - тебе, тебя, тобой