Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ambio. 2021 Mar;50(3):534-538. doi: 10.1007/s13280-020-01413-w. Epub 2021 Jan 19.
Looking back 50 years at classic literature was a reminder of inspiring discoveries and clever theories that were formative to the field of environmental chemistry, but also of the irreparable costs that persistent global pollutants have had on ecosystems and human society. In my view, these three papers have greatly impacted contemporary science and influenced development of policies that have limited the spread of hazardous contaminants. At the same time, a sobering reality is that reversing decades of past pollution has proven impossible in our lifetime, and global trends are dire for both legacy and emerging contaminants. Lessons in these papers are clear to most environmental scientists, but I argue have not resulted in adequate investment in infrastructure or manpower to enable systematic unbiased searching for pollutants as proposed by Sören Jensen in 1972. Acknowledging that the costs of new global contaminants will be too high, we must incentivize safer chemicals and their sustainable use, increase international exchange of lists of chemicals in commerce, and coordinate international efforts in nontarget screening to identify new contaminants before they circulate the world.
回顾 50 年前的经典文献，让人想起那些对环境化学领域具有启发意义的发现和精妙理论，但也让人痛心于持久性全球污染物对生态系统和人类社会造成的不可挽回的损失。在我看来，这三篇论文极大地影响了当代科学，并推动了制定政策的发展，这些政策限制了有害污染物的传播。与此同时，令人清醒的现实是，在我们有生之年，扭转过去几十年的污染已经不可能，而对于遗留污染物和新兴污染物来说，全球趋势都非常严峻。这些论文中的教训对大多数环境科学家来说是显而易见的，但我认为，这并没有导致对基础设施或人力的足够投资，以实现 Søren Jensen 在 1972 年提出的系统、无偏见地搜索污染物的目标。认识到新的全球污染物的成本将非常高，我们必须鼓励使用更安全的化学品及其可持续利用，增加商业用化学品清单的国际交流，并协调国际非靶向筛选努力，以在这些新污染物在全球传播之前对其进行识别。
