A deeper thought is that according to some recent papers we've exceeded the safe operating boundary for novel entities (including plastics) under the 'planetary

A deeper thought is that according to some recent papers we've exceeded the safe operating boundary for novel entities (including plastics) under the 'planetary boundaries' framework: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158# https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158# , https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/chemical-pollution-has-passed-safe-limit-for-humanity-say-scientists?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/chemical... "We submit that the safe operating space of the NE-PB is exceeded when annual production and releases increase at a pace that outstrips the global capacity for assessment and monitoring. Based on the evidence presented here, we submit that we are now in a zone of exceedance of the Planetary Boundary fornovel entities. Further, even if we were to stabilize or reduce production and releases, the effects due to our transgression of the NE-PB will still be a threat due to the persistence of many novel entities. Thus, we conclude that increases in production and releases of novel entities are not consistent with keeping humanity within the safe operating space, in the light of the global capacity for management. We invite the research community to continue work, using the impact pathway and understanding of the NE-PB presented here, to develop more operational control variables, more robust quantification of the NE-PB, and better-defined limits for NE emissions. However, these continued research efforts need to go in parallel with urgent action to manage today’s NE-PB threats."