Fishes global estimate

The value of EF as indicator also for chemical production lies in the explicit indication that the ecosystem has a value equivalent to its ecological yield valued as it would be on commodity markets for the value of water, wood, fish or game that is purified or nurseried or generated or harbored in that ecosystem. Thus, a price can be put on the natural capital of an ecosystem based on the price of natural resources it yields each year. Therefore, EF provides the basis to estimate the ecological cost of production of a chemical that should be added to the industrial cost to develop an intrinsic cost that considers not only the product itself but also how it is produced. In Chapter 1 the need for a new model of global economy, which includes sustainability and ecosystem valuation in the value of goods, has already been discussed. 

In contrast, consider the characteristics of HCB. The global Stockholm Convention identifies HCB as a persistent organic pollutant (POP). (We revisit the story of HCB in Chapter 4 after looking briefly here at characteristics that influence its environmental fate and transport.) The half-life of HCB is estimated to range from 2.7 to 5.7 years in surface water and from 5.3 to 11.4 years in groundwater [24]. Laboratory experiments have determined BCF values for fish of up to 21,900 [25]. These characteristics help to explain why, in the words of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), HCB can "remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely... 

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid, l-AA), is an essential nutrient for humans and some animal species [9] (Figure 10.1). l-AA is a cofactor of at least eight enzymatic reactions, which are crucial for collagen synthesis. Deficiency in L-AA could cause the most severe symptoms of scurvy in humans [10]. L-AA can also act as an antioxidant [11], and is required for a range of essential metabolic reactions in all animals and plants [9,12]. It is produced internally by almost all organisms with the exception of some species of birds and fish [12, 13]. All species that do not synthesize ascorbate require it in their diet. L-AA is also widely used as a food additive to prevent the oxidation of other nutrients or some food dyes [14]. The global vitamin C production is currently estimated at about 11000 tons annually. The main producers include DSM (Scotland) and other four producers in China (Northeast Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., North China Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.,... 

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