The industrial economy has created more than 100 million novel entities, or chemicals not found in nature, with somewhere between 40,000 and 350,000 in commercial use and production.
Environmental health officers from Havering have visited local businesses to ensure compliance with hygiene regulations set by the Food Standards Agency, focusing on cleanliness and food safety management.
"It's going to a real loss," said deputy editor Dana Boyd Barr, a professor at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health. "I didn't think that environmental health was going to be something that was targeted for decreased funding."
"It seems to correspond with low [water] flows [and] the warmer water temperatures," Brent Bellinger, conservation program supervisor with the Watershed Protection Department, said.
Long-term exposure to ethylene oxide has been linked to increased cancer risks, yet storage facilities are often situated near residential areas, posing health hazards.
"The concentrations were so high that touching only one receipt with BPS for 10 seconds resulted in exposure above the safe harbor level which requires a clear and reasonable warning to consumers," Mihir Vohra, science lead at CEH, said in a statement about the findings.