The Invisible Environment

When you walk into a room, you can see the walls, the furniture, the floor beneath your feet, and the people around you.

However, there is more of what you cannot see than that which you can.

The compounds released from fresh paint.

The pollen carried through open windows.

The contaminants deposited by the rain.

The pet allergens attached to a jacket.

The fragrance that lingers from cleaning products.

And so much more.

There is so much we don’t see because most of the environment exists beyond human sight.

The EPA notes that VOCs are emitted from paints, furniture, flooring, adhesives, cleaning products, fragrances, pesticides, and countless household items. Studies cited by the EPA found that concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors than outdoors, sometimes by as much as ten times, with elevated levels that can remain for hours after the activity that released them has ended. [1]

Yet daily life centers on the visible as though the rest of what shapes a space is not real.

A river looks clean, fresh, and natural. A spotless room smells pleasant. A mountain appears untouched. A ”clean” home feels pristine. But appearances tell only part of the story.

The reality is that many of the substances that shape our environment are invisible to the naked eye. They move through air, water, soil, buildings, clothing, and living systems without being noticed.

The invisible environment surrounds us constantly and impacts us silently.

The USGS has documented pesticides in air, rain, snow, and fog, and notes that atmospheric transport can carry pesticides into areas where they were never applied. Their monitoring found that nearly every pesticide investigated has been detected in atmospheric samples, and that the atmosphere acts as a transport system connecting distant environments. [2]

PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” have been detected in rainwater, snow, oceans, surface waters, wildlife, and remote regions of the world. Research led by Ian Cousins and colleagues concluded that PFAS contamination has become so widespread that rainwater in many locations exceeds the drinking water advisory levels set by the US EPA. [3]

These are things we know from scientific testing, we can prove it, and yet as a whole, as a society, we still act as though it is not real, not relevant, and what we cannot see cannot hurt us. Lest we forget it was not so long ago in human history that we thought the same of germs.

Throughout history, science has repeatedly revealed that some of the most influential components of our environment were invisible long before they were measurable. And even once they were proven, much of society ignored the findings for time to come. 

Sources

1. United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Volatile Organic Compounds’ Impact on Indoor Air Quality.” <https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality>

2. Majewski, M.S., and Capel, P.D. United States

Geological Survey. “Pesticides in the Atmosphere: Current Understanding of Distribution and Major Influences.” USGS Fact Sheet 152-95. <https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1995/0152/fs15295_pesticides.html>

3. Cousins, I.T., Johansson, J.H., Salter, M.E., Sha, B., and Scheringer, M. (2022). “Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).” Environmental Science & Technology, 56(16), 11172-11179. <https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c02765>