Aaron Frey, the attorney general of Maine, filed a 47-page complaint against Monsanto for selling this chemical, despite knowing it can harm human health and the environment.
Persistent synthetic chemicals are a major threat to the environment. When chemicals do not break down but continue to be released, their concentration in the environment increases. If a persistent chemical is also harmful to wildlife and humans, this is a major concern. Infamous examples of persistent and dangerous chemicals that caused large-scale environmental damage are DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Bioaccumulative chemicals can accumulate in the human body and wildlife because they are absorbed by the body and not excreted quickly.
If such an organism is eaten by something higher up the food chain, the concentration of the chemical in living tissues increases. This is called biomagnification. Some of the most notorious chemicals, such as the pesticide DDT, PCBs, PFAS, and some flame retardants, are extremely persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulative—a triple problem for humans and wildlife. EDCs, and suspected EDCs, are frequently found as contaminants in fresh and marine waters in Europe. In fact, more than three-quarters of Europe's seas are polluted by a cocktail of harmful synthetic chemicals, according to a 2019 report by the European Environment Agency.
This same report also states that in European freshwaters, on average, 20% of aquatic species are lost due to exposure to a mixture of chemical pollution. In England, only 14% of rivers are currently classified as having “good ecological status”. Research has shown that some of the UK's rivers are polluted by historical pollution from banned toxic chemicals such as PCBs and emerging pollutants such as PFAS; and by hormone-disrupting chemicals used in medications
Persistent synthetic chemicals are a major threat to the environment. When chemicals do not break down but continue to be released, their concentration in the environment increases. If a persistent chemical is also harmful to wildlife and humans, this is a major concern. Infamous examples of persistent and dangerous chemicals that caused large-scale environmental damage are DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Bioaccumulative chemicals can accumulate in the human body and wildlife because they are absorbed by the body and not excreted quickly.
If such an organism is eaten by something higher up the food chain, the concentration of the chemical in living tissues increases. This is called biomagnification. Some of the most notorious chemicals, such as the pesticide DDT, PCBs, PFAS, and some flame retardants, are extremely persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulative—a triple problem for humans and wildlife. EDCs, and suspected EDCs, are frequently found as contaminants in fresh and marine waters in Europe. In fact, more than three-quarters of Europe's seas are polluted by a cocktail of harmful synthetic chemicals, according to a 2019 report by the European Environment Agency.
This same report also states that in European freshwaters, on average, 20% of aquatic species are lost due to exposure to a mixture of chemical pollution. In England, only 14% of rivers are currently classified as having “good ecological status”. Research has shown that some of the UK's rivers are polluted by historical pollution from banned toxic chemicals such as PCBs and emerging pollutants such as PFAS; and by hormone-disrupting chemicals used in medications
More than 240 different synthetic chemicals have been detected in drinking water across Europe. Conventional water purification systems in treatment plants are not 100% efficient in removing all contaminants from drinking water. For many synthetic chemicals, treatment will remove a maximum of 40%. Synthetic chemicals found in drinking water include pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and many industrial chemicals, such as the well-known endocrine disruptors phthalates and bisphenols, and chemicals from the PFAS family. https://chemtrust.org/edcs-wildlife/ (2023) https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/policy-briefs/integrating-policy-water-endocrine-disruptors-and-pharmaceuticals/ (2023) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6967171_Endocrine-Disrupting_Chemicals_and_Climate_Change_A_Worst-Case_Combination_for_Arctic_Marine_Mammals_and_Seabirds (2023)