Toward Assessing Absolute Environmental Sustainability ofChemical Pollution

Chemicals are widely used in modern society, whichcan lead to negative impacts on ecosystems. Despite the urgentrelevance for global policy setting, there are no established methodsto assess the absolute sustainability of chemical pressure at relevantspatiotemporal scales. We propose an absolute environmentalsustainability framework (AESA) for chemical pollution where (1)the chemical pressure on ecosystems is quantified, (2) the ability forecosystems to withstand chemical pressure (i.e., their carryingcapacity) is determined, and (3) the"safe space"is derived, whereinchemical pressure is within the carrying capacity and hence does notlead to irreversible adverse ecological effects. This space is thenallocated to entities contributing to the chemical pressure. Wediscuss examples involving pesticide use in Europe to explore theassociated challenges in implementing this framework (e.g., identifying relevant chemicals, conducting analyses at appropriatespatiotemporal scales) and ways forward (e.g., chemical prioritization approaches, data integration). The proposed framework is thefirst step toward understanding where and how much chemical pressure exceeds related ecological limits and which sources andactors are contributing to the chemical pressure. This can inform sustainable levels of chemical use and help policy makers establishrelevant and science-based protection goals from regional to global scale.