Mirex discharge

Mirex has been released to surface waters via waste waters discharged from manufacturing and... 

The solubility of chlordecone in water is low (1--3 mg/L) and as with mirex, contamination is more likely to be associated with the particulate matter in the water rather than the water itself. Chlordecone was detected primarily in water samples collected in and around the production facility site in Hopewell, Virginia, and in adjacent waters of the James River estuary. Effluent from the Life Sciences Products Company facility contained 0.1 —1.0 mg/L (ppm) chlordecone, while water in holding ponds at the site contained 2--3 mg/L (ppm) chlordecone (Epstein 1978). Levels of chlordecone in river water in August 1975 ranged from not detectable (<50 ng/L [ppt]) in the York River and Swift Creek areas, to levels of 1--4 pg/L (ppb) in Bailey Creek which received direct effluent discharges from the Hopewell Sewage Treatment Plant. Water concentrations of up to 0.3 p g/L (ppb) were detected in the James River at the mouth of Bailey Creek and in the Appomattox... 

The POP protocol elaborated on occasion of the Stockholm Convention in 2001 contained 12 compounds, known as the dirty dozen aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, HCB, mirex, PCBs, pol veil I orod i be nzo-/ -d i ox ins. polychlorodibenzofurans and toxaphene. After several years of implementation other compounds, were also included HCHs, PAHs, certain brominated flame retardants, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and pentachlorobenzene (http // www.chem.unep.ch/pops/). This protocol is aimed to control, reduce and/or eliminate discharges, emissions and spills of POPs into the environment. 

In 1997, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council decided that immediate international action should be taken to protect human health and the environment. International negotiations to reduce and eliminate the emission and discharges of an initial set of 12 POPs were initiated at the Stockholm Convention on POPs in May 2001. The 12 substances that were addressed at the Stockholm Convention were aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, dichlorodiphenyltrichoroethanes (DDTs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), chlordane, toxaphene, heptachlor, hex-achlorobenzene (HCB) and mirex. Basic information and status of major organochlorine pesticides in China are summarized in Table 8.1. 

The quantity of toxic organic chemicals transported by the Niagara River at the beginning of the 80 s is estimated for typical examples in Table 2-7. PCB s, of which approximately one hundred times more - compared to DDT and Mirex - are discharged through the Niagara River system, are distinctly associated with particulate matter relative high... 

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