We keep encountering situations like this where a new chemical compound was introduced, becomes ubiquitous in our diets or environments and only later do we find out "Oops, it has serious health or environmental consequences."
It is worth the cost of slower introduction of new materials to take the time to ensure that those materials are safe. We're still paying the cost of introducing lead into our environment in a myriad of subtle ways. We still don't fully understand what the cost of the introduction of microplastics or PFAS is going to be. And regardless of the whether this particular study holds up under replication it is looking increasingly likely that aspartame is not something we should be consuming.
And what's most frustrating is that the people who profited most from these compounds never pay for the damage they cause to generations.
If we want to “change the introduction of new chemical compounds to our environment at a mass scale”, what do we… do? We can require more research before something is offered up to the market, there’s dimensioning returns on research. The only way you’ll know FOR SURE that something is harmless is universal consumption, after many decades.
Now, I am taking you saying “ensure that [new materials] are safe” to mean, we stop fucking up entirely. That’s probably not what you really mean. More publicly funded research to LIMIT harm further than we currently do, is a noble goal! Most nations have some entity that researches new drugs/additives/products before going to market. Greater funding (harder to bribe) and power (full power to stop untested substances being used) for those is a good step.
But humanity will keep poisoning itself, no silver bullet there.