The City of Gothenburg, as well as the whole country, has defined environmental quality goals. One of these is Non-toxic Environment. But we do not reach the goal. Chemicals are necessary, but can at the same time lead to negative consequences for both people and the environment, writes four researchers at the University of Gothenburg at GT Debatt.
Many chemicals are central to the development of society. We use chemicals to produce food, treat diseases, in electronics, in building materials, in consumer goods, etc. At the same time, many chemicals pollute our food, our drinking water and the air we breathe, causing diseases and damaging the environment.
If Gothenburg is to be a modern, sustainable and non-toxic city, where both people and the environment are protected from toxic chemicals, global solutions will be needed. It is necessary to develop tools to better assess the combination effects of chemicals, says four reserchers from the University of Gothenburg and the FRAM Centre. The researchers also require faster phasing out of hazardous chemicals and increased demands for reporting and transparency from producers in order to gain better knowledge of which chemicals are used in different products.
Read the full article at GT Debatt [In Swedish].
The article is written by:
Bethanie Carney Almroth
Associate Professor in Ecotoxicology at the University of Gothenburg
Åsa Arrhenius
Ecotoxicologist and 1st research engineer at the University of Gothenburg
Thomas Backhaus
Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Gothenburg
Joachim Sturve
Associate Professor in Ecotoxicology at the University of Gothenburg
in collaboration with the International Science Festival Gothenburg 2019.