Unintended Consequences

My house was completely re-designed, gutted & refurbished. I am delighted with it. I had an expensive quartz worktop installed in the kitchen. In order to protect it I put a clear plastic tray where I stack the dirty dishes. Over time I discovered a discolouration in the quartz underneath. Not a spillage or stain, something within the very light coloured quartz. Uncleanable. Apparently it's due to UV light from the south facing window. A known issue, but not on the website of the company supplying the quartz & not known to me. A completely unintended consequence. Very annoying.

Yesterday, driving home, I listened to "Toxic" on Radio 4. All about "forever chemicals" like PFAS. These have been man made since the 1940's and are grease, water & heat resistant. Really useful, we all thought. Widely used & present in almost everything - non-stick pans, waterproof clothing, food packaging, cosmetics, the list is endless. Also prevalent now in drinking water, the environment & us. They are extremely persistent & bioaccumulate. Unfortunately they are also linked to serious health risks - cancer, immune system disruption, fertility & developmental issues. Who knew that something so useful could be so dangerous? 

There have been three types over the years - PFOA, PFOS & the latest PFAS. There are over 10,000 different types. They all persist in the environment & our bodies for decades. We have only just woken up to the harm of these forever chemicals & governments are finally going to monitor their presence & do something about their use. It's a bit late though. They are already literally everywhere.

What long term effect will the presence of these chemicals have on both the environment & us? How long have people been aware of the dangers posed to everything? Did manufacturers of these chemicals do enough research into side effects? Or were they simply focussed on their profitability? Did they hide the issues, as has happened so many times before? For example as the petrochemical industry & the drug industry did?

Our fixation with growth & profitability. Our fixation with making life easier because we are so busy & are so time poor. Our heedless march into the future & the unknown. Our lack of interrogation of the possibilities, good & bad, attached to change. Our lack of money & incentive to research & do due diligence. All of these are coming home to roost.

It's a perfect storm leading to disastrous unintended consequences. We need to stop & really think.