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A new report Invisible Ingredients provides the most comprehensive global assessment to date of how four major chemical groups—phthalates, bisphenols, pesticides, and PFAS—affect human health, ecosystems, and economic stability through the global food system.

A key finding of the report: phthalates, bisphenols, pesticides and PFAS are imposing up to $3 trillion a year in preventable costs. Each substance reflects a distinct dimension of the challenge: phthalates and bisphenols reveal both the power and the limitations of targeted regulation; pesticides show how dependency is reinforced by incentives in agricultural systems; and PFAS illustrate the cost of inaction on highly persistent pollutants.

Together, they also capture the two sides of the problem: unmanaged hazards and unknown safety. These chemical impact human health. They cut across multiple dimensions, with the largest burdens arising from developmental disorders, all-cause premature mortality, metabolic diseases, and circulatory diseases. Together, these exposures affect multiple organs and biological pathways, creating systemic and unavoidable health burdens. According to the report, the total estimated health costs of four major toxic chemical groups exceed the combined annual profits of the world’s 100 largest publicly listed companies.

Toxic chemicals have permeated our ecosystems, including soil, water, air, and living organisms. Persistent substances such as PFAS are dispersed through the air, rain, rivers, and groundwater, accumulating in food webs and defying cleanup at any meaningful scale.

Ecological damage from toxic chemicals is both vast and compounding. Drastically reducing their use is the only viable option. This would not only curb human exposure but also restore ecosystems that provide the irreplaceable services—from pollination to water purification—that are essential to long-term food system resilience.

Read and share the report.