Forum IV, Chemical Safety in a Vulnerable World
FACTS AND FIGURES
Chemicals can have many beneficial uses, such as crop protection and disease prevention and
cure. Exposures to chemicals, such as toxic metals, pesticides and industrial chemicals, can,
however, also have negative impacts on human health and the environment when their production
and use are not managed responsibly.
Some negative impacts are complex and not fully understood or known as there are gaps in our
science and knowledge. Other effects are well documented. The following facts and figures
provide information on the chemical industry and a snapshot of key issues related to chemical
safety which will be discussed at Forum IV. This data reflects the best available reliable
information from a variety of credible sources.
SIZE OF INDUSTRY

In 1998, the chemical industry accounted for an estimated 7% of global income, 9% of
international trade and an estimated US $1.5 trillion in sales (OECD Environmental Outlook
for the Chemicals Industry, 2001).

In 2001, 80% of the world’s total output of chemicals was produced by 16 countries, with
production concentrated in OECD countries. However, by 2020, developing nations are
expected to lead the world in growth rates for high-volume industrial chemicals (i.e.
those produced at more than 1000 tonnes per year), increasing their share of the world’s
chemical production to 31% (OECD Environmental Outlook for the Chemicals Industry, 2001).

There are tens of thousands of synthetic chemicals being produced commercially
worldwide. There is a lack of adequate safety information about the great majority of
these chemicals (OECD Environmental Outlook, 2001).

Since many developing countries have not yet put in place chemical legislation, inventories,
and controls of imports and exports, no one knows exactly how many or which chemicals are in
use there. (World Bank, Toxics and Poverty).

One estimate is, however, that, across the African continent, as much as 50,000 tonnes of
obsolete stockpiles of pesticides are leaking into the environment, contaminating soil,
water, air and food sources (African Stockpiles Program, www.africastockpiles.org)
THE PROBLEM


Within countries, the poor have the greatest exposure to chemicals. Children employed in
the informal labour sector may have the opportunity for exposure to a multitude of toxic
chemicals (Laraqui and others 2000). Worldwide communities involved with scavenging of
wastes have high exposures to toxic chemicals.
Exposure to toxic substances is an important contributor to chronic disease, along with
other factors like smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity (World Bank, Toxics and Poverty,
2002). Pollution is a factor in the development of cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. It
probably also plays a role in birth defects and a number of chronic diseases in adults, such as
Parkinson’s Disease (Lockwood, 2000).

The ILO estimates that occupational exposure to hazardous substances could cause
some 340,000 deaths per year globally, not to mention the number of people subjected to
injuries and illnesses caused by chemicals (Dr. Jukka Takala, ILO, Address to the XVI World
Congress on Safety and Health at Work, May 2002, Vienna).
POISONINGS

Toxic poisoning in children accounts for about two per cent of all deaths by injury in
children in developed countries and for about five per cent in developing countries
(Bates, and Edwards, Roper, Volans, Paediatric Toxicology: Handbook of Poisoning in
Children, 1997).

Pesticide poisoning is a major public health problem in developing countries (Ecobichon,
2001; Koh and others, 1996). The extent of the problem is unknown; the World Health
Organization has estimated an annual worldwide incidence of 3 million cases of acute, severe
poisoning (including suicides), matched possibly by a much greater number of unreported
cases of mild-to-moderate intoxication, with some 220,0000 deaths (Koh and Jeyaratnam,
1996; Ecobichon, 2001).

Unintentional poisonings account for 50,000 deaths of children aged 0-14 years,
estimated by the World Health Organization (World Health Report 2002).

Unintentional acute poisonings among children are serious consequences of modern chemical
use. For example, according to the Annual Report from the poison center in Brazil, 12,471
poisonings were reported in children under age five. In Sweden, the annual rate of
inquiries to the poison center concerning non-pharmaceutical chemicals was about 14,000 per
million children aged 0-9. According to a large U.S. surveillance network, 2.2 million human
poison exposure cases, of which 85.2% were unintentional, were reported in 2001.
OTHER

Much good agricultural land is threatened by chemical pollution, particularly by waste products
from urban centers. Chemical degradation is responsible for 12 per cent of global soil
degradation (Global Environmental Outlook 3).

Following control measures, lead levels have been steadily declining in industrialized countries,
but at least 5% of children still have elevated blood lead levels. In many developing
countries where leaded gasoline is still used, lead can present a threat to more than half
of children. Lead affects practically all body systems. Most toxic exposures occur at chronic
low levels and can result in reductions in intelligence quotient, increased blood pressure, and a
range of behavioural and developmental effects. (World Health Report, 2002).