Outside the safe operating space of the planetary boundary for novel entities

Novel entities

There are an estimated 350 000 different types of manufactured chemicals on the global market. These include plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, chemicals in consumer products, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals. These are all novel entities, created by human activities with largely unknown effects on the Earth system. Significant volumes of these novel entities enter the environment each year.

Planetary bounderies

In 2009, researchers identified nine planetary boundaries that demarcate the remarkably stable state Earth has remained within since the dawn of civilization, about 10.000 years ago. These boundaries include greenhouse gas emissions, the ozone layer, forests, freshwater and biodiversity. The researchers quantified the boundaries that influence Earth’s stability and concluded in 2015 that four boundaries have been breached. However, the boundary for novel entities was one of two boundaries that remained unquantified. This new research advances the discussion on this boundary.

Plastic indigestion

Global production and consumption of novel entities is set to continue to grow. Production of plastics is projected to increase and predictions indicate that the release of plastic pollution to the environment will also rise despite huge efforts in many countries to reduce waste. 

Additionally, plastic production, use and waste affects other planetary boundaries as well, including climate, land and fresh water systems, pollution, physical changes and spread of invasive species, antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic microbes in the oceans. Plastics have helped solve some environmental issues, but overuse and misuse are having devastating impacts on planetary health.

The authors recommend taking urgent action to reduce the harm associated with exceeding the boundary by reducing the production and releases of novel entities, noting that even so, the persistence of many novel entities and/or their associated effects will continue to pose a threat.
 

The article “Outside the safe operating space of the planetary boundary for novel entities” by Linn Persson, Cynthia A. Dewit et al. was published by the American Chemical Society and can be found here.