Chemical pollution including pesticides, heavy metals and endocrine disruptors causes widespread suffering and reproductive failure across aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.
Chemical pollution causes both acute suffering — seizures, paralysis and disorientation in birds exposed to toxic doses — and chronic welfare harms through sublethal effects on reproduction, immunity and behaviour. Endocrine disruptors cause reproductive failures that translate to failed breeding attempts and smaller populations over generations. The welfare case for reducing chemical contamination of the environment is inseparable from the conservation and public health case.