Persistent pollutants postpone their harm to future generations.

Evidence

Some pollutants simply persist in the natural environment over long periods of time. Radioactivity, lasting thousands of year, is an obvious example, but not an isolated one. Many modern chemicals, ranging from DDT to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), resist ready breakdown. Just as numerous sources of environmental degradation may be spatially diffused, complicating their control at any one moment in time, so too may sources be temporally diffused. Thus, trace pollutants that persist within the natural environment may accumulate over time and, while remaining at nonthreatening levels for years, might suddenly cross a threshold. — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 85

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Geochemical cycles cause ecological harm at one place to spill over to others. — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 53; Persistent, bioaccumulating pollutants made non-biodegradability a public concern — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 305; Delayed environmental harms create regulatory cost-asymmetry and uncertainty — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 306 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Delayed environmental harms create regulatory cost-asymmetry and uncertainty #expands (0.85) — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 306
• Environmental protection structurally requires present sacrifice for unverifiable future gain #expands (0.82) — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 983
• Persistent, bioaccumulating pollutants made non-biodegradability a public concern #complicates (0.75) — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 305
• Some human-caused environmental changes prove uncontrollable and irreversible #expands (0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2724