{"id":57045,"date":"2025-07-10T20:26:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T20:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water"},"modified":"2025-07-10T20:50:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T20:50:31","slug":"floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water","title":{"rendered":"Floods Increase Risk of Toxic Chemicals in Food Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>Floods, made more frequent and severe by climate change, are increasing the risk of dangerous, long-banned chemicals reentering the environment through contaminated rivers, soil, and food systems, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in a new report.<\/p>\n

The warning came in UNEP\u2019s Frontiers 2025 report, which identified four emerging environmental risks linked to climate change. The agency said floods are now remobilizing chemicals once thought safely buried, creating new threats for human health and ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cFloods can bring such chemicals to the surface, after having accumulated in the sediment over centuries,\u201d the report said. As floodwaters stir up contaminated sediment and debris, toxic substances may be released and spread across agricultural lands, urban areas, and freshwater sources.<\/p>\n

Global warming has led to more extreme weather, including severe flooding. The mass of the cryosphere \u2014 glaciers, seasonal snow, sea ice, permafrost and related frozen systems \u2014 is expected to decline sharply if global temperatures rise more than 2C above pre-industrial levels. That shift could also awaken ancient bacteria and viruses, raising concerns about antimicrobial resistance.<\/p>\n

Another rising concern is the risk posed by aging dams, especially for indigenous and fishing-dependent communities. UNEP says dam removal may become a necessary strategy in some cases.<\/p>\n

The report emphasizes that flooding, in particular, poses a renewed danger by releasing hazardous pollutants previously considered dormant.<\/p>\n

Markus Brinkmann, one of the report\u2019s authors and director of the Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told Anadolu that many of the chemicals at risk of resurfacing were banned decades ago due to their toxicity \u2014 but they remain in the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese chemicals do not disappear,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are persistent \u2014 meaning there are very few degradation processes to break them down \u2014 and they are bioaccumulative, so they concentrate up the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brinkmann cited the 2006 Stockholm Convention, which banned or phased out many such substances globally. \u201cBut they\u2019re still around,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been buried in low-lying bottom sediments \u2014 in rivers, landfills, contaminated sites \u2014 where high concentrations still exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a flood event comes through, it disperses that historical record and remobilizes these old stores of harmful chemicals,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey now become part of the water body again and potentially enter wildlife and human systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that low-lying settlements along rivers and coastlines \u2014 home to large populations \u2014 are especially vulnerable. \u201cUnfortunately, that\u2019s where globally many people have settled… more and more people live in flood-prone areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brinkmann added that the long-term effects of chemical pollution during cleanup and rebuilding are often overlooked. He urged policymakers to factor this into water management and emergency planning.<\/p>\n

Maarten Kappelle, chief of UNEP\u2019s Scientific Assessment Branch, told Anadolu that floods can cause banned chemicals and toxic substances to mix with soil and water, citing recent disasters in India, Pakistan, and Texas.<\/p>\n

He stressed that this is not just a problem for the Global South. \u201cLow-lying and coastal regions are most vulnerable to these risks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kappelle warned that industrial chemicals such as PBTs and PFAs \u2014 used in electronics \u2014 as well as asbestos from storage sites, can be reintroduced into the environment by floodwaters. Despite restrictions, these chemicals are still being detected in water systems, either from legacy contamination or ongoing industrial use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are chemicals that should not exist in the environment,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they continue to show up. Some are endocrine disruptors or contain other toxic properties. The long-term risks could be catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kappelle also noted that many countries lack effective early warning or environmental monitoring systems. \u201cAlthough there might be a forecast or a warning sent out by the authorities, the capacity to monitor and respond is often not up to standards,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest gap we need to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese emerging issues require careful attention from policymakers and practitioners,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is better to prevent than to cure \u2014 also in terms of cost to people, nature, and the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: UN<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Floods, made more frequent and severe by climate change, are increasing the risk of dangerous, long-banned chemicals reentering the environment through contaminated rivers, soil, and food systems, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in a new report. The warning came in UNEP\u2019s Frontiers 2025 report, which identified four emerging environmental risks linked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[401,1246,2006,241,4059],"class_list":["post-57045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-climate","tag-environment","tag-flood","tag-mauritius","tag-risk"],"yoast_head":"\nFloods Increase Risk of Toxic Chemicals in Food Water - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Floods, made more frequent and severe by climate change, are increasing the risk of dangerous, long-banned chemicals ree ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Floods Increase Risk of Toxic Chemicals in Food Water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Floods, made more frequent and severe by climate change, are increasing the risk of dangerous, long-banned chemicals ree ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T20:26:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T20:50:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/sm_1752164271.605606.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Floods Increase Risk of Toxic Chemicals in Food Water\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T20:26:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T20:50:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\"},\"wordCount\":679,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2025\/07\/sm_1752164271.605606.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Climate\",\"Environment\",\"flood\",\"Mauritius\",\"risk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/floods-increase-risk-of-toxic-chemicals-in-food-water\",\"name\":\"Floods Increase Risk of Toxic Chemicals in Food Water - 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