Abstract Chemicals management is focused around the hazard, exposure and risk assessment of single chemicals. This is a slow process which cannot keep pace with chemical innovation and development of use. Environmental monitoring focuses on few, and well-known, chemicals. As a consequence, the majority of all chemicals emitted to the aquatic environment remain unstudied, and so does their risk. We conclude that to understand how chemical pollution affects aquatic ecosystems, requires reformation of current chemicals management, moving away from the single chemical approach. It requires increased transparency regarding chemical content in materials, products and articles, and importantly, a management system that covers different aspects of the many unknowns related to chemical pollution of aquatic systems. This implies for instance, environmental monitoring that screens for a wide range of chemicals and effects, and that is able to detect more unexpected effects of chemical pollution than what is possible today.