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There is a great dispar.ity between the ability of the major
industrial nations to produce and distribute chemicals and our
ability to comprehend the nature and potential severity of
unintended consequences for man, his life support systems and the
environment generally. Furthermore, the gap between our ability to
produce and distribute myriad chemicals and our ability to
identify, understand or predict unfavorable environmental impacts
may widen. As environmental scientists we are conscious of the
interrelatedness, not only of environmental systems, but of nations
as well. Materials are continually moved across boundaries by human
as well as natural agencies. The extent, rate and nature of
transfer for most pollutants is largely unknown. We can only guess
which of the numerous chemicals produced are candidates for
concern. More important still is our practical ignorance of the
mechanisms of chronic effects upon natural systems and of the
concentrations, combinations and circumstances that may lead to
irreversibilities or to serious consequences for man. We know very
little also regarding the potential for or the kinds of indirect
effects that might occur. With respect to the environmentltself, we
know little of its assimilative capacity with regard to widely
dispersed pollutants and their transformation products. But what we
do know is disquieting, and a much-improved system for the
evaluation and management of toxic and hazardous chemicals is
needed.
There is a great dispar.ity between the ability of the major
industrial nations to produce and distribute chemicals and our
ability to comprehend the nature and potential severity of
unintended consequences for man, his life support systems and the
environment generally. Furthermore, the gap between our ability to
produce and distribute myriad chemicals and our ability to
identify, understand or predict unfavorable environmental impacts
may widen. As environmental scientists we are conscious of the
interrelatedness, not only of environmental systems, but of nations
as well. Materials are continually moved across boundaries by human
as well as natural agencies. The extent, rate and nature of
transfer for most pollutants is largely unknown. We can only guess
which of the numerous chemicals produced are candidates for
concern. More important still is our practical ignorance of the
mechanisms of chronic effects upon natural systems and of the
concentrations, combinations and circumstances that may lead to
irreversibilities or to serious consequences for man. We know very
little also regarding the potential for or the kinds of indirect
effects that might occur. With respect to the environmentltself, we
know little of its assimilative capacity with regard to widely
dispersed pollutants and their transformation products. But what we
do know is disquieting, and a much-improved system for the
evaluation and management of toxic and hazardous chemicals is
needed.
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