Chemicals of Emerging Concern

It is generally accepted that there are many synthetic agents with the potential to cause harm to human health, as well as compromise quality and/or quantity of life.  Rolf Halden, from Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute (Arizona, USA), completed a meta-analysis of 143,000 peer-reviewed research papers published over a 50-year period, tracking the progress of these chemicals of emerging concern (CECs),  revealing patterns of emergence from obscurity to peak concern and eventual decline.  The study reveals that around 14 years typically elapse from the onset of initial safety concerns about a given chemical to the height of concern and appropriate action. This extended timeline implies protracted exposure to CECs for a large number of people.  The research suggests that the rise and fall in concern for CECs of recent interest may be forecast based on the historic data derived from other CECs. For example, rising concern over the safety of nanomaterials is expected to peak no later than 2016, while microplastics (which only began to raise an alarm in 2008), likely will elicit peak concern in 2022, if current trends continue.  The study provides an important first step in forecasting the timelines for potentially harmful chemicals to emerge and receive appropriate attention. The author hopes the data will inform future efforts to safeguard human and environmental health. Areas for improvement include shortening the duration between CEC emergence and maximum concern and developing new chemical and engineering methods designed to obviate the need for high impact CEC chemicals, posing a threat to human and environmental wellbeing.