Issue Environmental pollution and compound health threats

Summary

Climate change is reshaping the landscape of chemical pollution and pathogen risk at the same time, amplifying compound hazards in which the two overlap and interact. Heatwaves promote ozone formation and air stagnation, floods trigger sewage overflows and chemical spills, and droughts concentrate waterborne disease and soil contaminants, forming linked chains of climate, pollution and disease. Particulate matter, ozone and microplastics are detected across air, water and soil and repeatedly found in human blood and placental tissue. Combined exposures accumulate among children, older people, people with underlying conditions and outdoor workers, worsening respiratory, cardiovascular and endocrine disease, while monitoring standards and data interoperability remain weak. Because these threats cross borders through air, water and living vectors, the survey calls for a One Health approach, integrated surveillance, rules that consider mixtures and vulnerable groups, and cross-border data sharing.