Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs

POPs are pervasive in our environment. They are present virtually everywhere in the world including the Arctic environsFood is the primary source of human exposure to POPs. As discussed in Chapter 9, they are taken up in plants grown in contaminated soil. I2 For example, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, and endosulfan sulfate were absorbed by lettuce growing in soil contaminated with these pesticides J3  

POPs are found in the flesh of animals in all the world s environments. The examples that follow are illustrative. 

Fish eaten by people residing in northern Norway are contaminated with PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, and their metabolites. Fish living in mangrove habitats in Singapore are contaminated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). I5 Dioxins and PCBs are found in the eggs of free-range chickens. 

POPs are widespread in human food productsJ7 An indication of the pervasiveness of POPs is seen from a worldwide study of butter contamination with PCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzo-furans (PCDFs), hexachlorobenzene, and DDT and its metabolites. These POPs were found to be present in varying degrees in the butter of 37 different nations.  

and organochlorine pesticides are contaminants of human breast milkJ910 PCBs and PBDEs are found in human adipose and muscle tissues J 

Chemicals, which are persistent, toxic and liable to bioaccumulation, are called PTBs. They have primarily local effects. Persistence is the evidence that the substances half-life is greater than two months in water and greater than sue months in soil or sediment. Toxicity is the potential to adversely affect human health and/or the environment. Bioaccumulation is the evidence that the Bio-Accumulation Factor (BAF) is greater than 5000. Up to 1995, there was no clear definition of which products belong to this class [394]. Heavy metals, such as mercury and POPs fall into this category. 

POPs are persistent organic pollutants, which persist in the environment and are toxic to humans and/or wildlife, have a strong tendency to bioaccumulation in the food chain, and are prone to long-range transport [395]. 

The ca. 100 potential POPs include the following 12 chlorine-related substances PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins and fiirans, aldrin, dieldrin, DDT, endrin, chlordane, hexachlorobenzene, Mirex, toxaphene, and heptachlor [396]. 

The relationship between physico-chemical properties, environmental distribution and ecotoxic effects are discussed in [389]. The environmental fate of POPs is described, including their transport and dispersion as well as their accumulation and transformation in defined environmental compartments. One of the findings is, that biotic and 

The toxicity of special persistent chlorinated organic compounds, such as PCBs, dioxins, DDT is reported in [389]. 

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The methods, which allow in one procedure of analysis to overcome, for example, most pesticides which are used in agricultural practice in the present time, get development and introduction in practice. The contribution of the Ukrainian scientists in field of chromatographic analysis of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs, chlorinated hydrocarbons, PCB s) and supertoxicants, such as PCDDs, is estimated. 

Persistent organic pollutants (POP) and heavy metals were in the focus of interest until the begiiming of the 1990s and intensive monitoring programs and ecotoxico-logical studies had been conducted. As a result, due to adoption of appropriate measures and elimination of the dominant pollution sources a drastic reduction of emission of these nonpolar hazardous compounds have been achieved and today these compounds are less relevant for the industrialized countries. 

The potential of the dimeric system 7 is perhaps best exemplified by its ability to bring about the total hydrodechlorination of decachlorobiphenyl, a member of the notorious family of polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs (Persistent Organic Pollutants, POPs), in the presence of the inexpensive base NaOH (Table 8.3). 

One of the most known is the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which is signed by 151 countries [6]. The Stockholm Convention, which was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in year 2004, requires all parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. 

United Nations Environmental Programme (2009) Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as amended in 2009... 

Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and 69 ratified the ban on all kinds of hazardous waste export from wealthy OECD-countries to non-OECD countries, large amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are shipped overseas for recycling, the majority to China as reported by Brigden et al. [2] and Puckett et al. [3], lesser quantities to India and Western Africa reported by Kuper and Hojsik [4]. WEEE contains a variety of harmful substances like endocrine disruptors and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Additionally, hazardous substances may be formed during informal recycling. This often practised informal treatment without proper equipment for metal extraction and labour safety heavily affects the environment and human health of workers and the inhabitants of whole stretches of land. 

UN/ECE, United Nations/Economic Council for Europe (1998) The 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. http //www.unece.org/envArtap/pops hl.htm... 

The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It was adopted on 22 May 2001 and entered into force on 17 May 2004. Official website .http //chm.pops.int/. 

Jurado E (2006) Modelling the ocean atmosphere exchanges of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). PhD thesis, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Jurado E, Zaldvar JM, Marinov D, Dachs J (2007) Fate of persistent organic pollutants in the water column Does turbulent mixing matter Mar Poll Bull 57 441 151 Kissa E (2001) Fluorinated Surfactants and Repellents. Marcel Dekker Inc. 

Sites near industrial areas in the Ebro have been found to have the highest concentration of priority contaminants [15, 47—49], while dispersion of agricultural products by drift, runoff and drainage has resulted in residues being found in ground-waters, rivers, coastal waters and lakes far from point sources [50]. Priority contaminants in aquatic environments include persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dichlorodiphenylethylenes (DDT) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). 

There is growing evidence that environmental contaminants represent a conservation-level concern in some marine mammal populations, by contributing to an increased vulnerability to infection by natural or emergent pathogens. In this light, those marine mammals that are most contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are most vulnerable to adverse health effects. Those species that occupy high trophic levels in aquatic food webs are typically the most contaminated [47 19],... 

Restrictions for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) required under the Stockholm Convention will also be implemented through the provisions of the REACH Regulation. 

Another piece of legislative action to be considered is the OSPAR strategy regarding hazardous substances, known as the Convention for the protection of the marine environment of North-Atlantic . Among the OSPAR list of chemicals of priority action, surfactants NPEOs and so-called related substances, such as NP, are included among other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like PCBs, PAHs and Hg, indicating that these compounds show a risk to the marine environment. 

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