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    Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops)

    Uploaded by

    Vanessa Lopez
    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for long periods, accumulate in fatty tissues, and pose risks to human health and wildlife through the food chain. They were widely used after World War II but have unforeseen negative effects. The initial 12 POPs identified under the Stockholm Convention fall into three categories: pesticides like DDT, industrial chemicals like PCBs, and unintentionally produced chemicals like dioxins. POP exposure is linked to cancer, developmental issues, and endocrine disruption, with dietary intake being the main source. Current efforts focus on banning POP production and use globally rather than removing existing pollutants from the environment.

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    Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops)

    Uploaded by

    Vanessa Lopez
    10 views2 pages
    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for long periods, accumulate in fatty tissues, and pose risks to human health and wildlife through the food chain. They were widely used after World War II but have unforeseen negative effects. The initial 12 POPs identified under the Stockholm Convention fall into three categories: pesticides like DDT, industrial chemicals like PCBs, and unintentionally produced chemicals like dioxins. POP exposure is linked to cancer, developmental issues, and endocrine disruption, with dietary intake being the main source. Current efforts focus on banning POP production and use globally rather than removing existing pollutants from the environment.

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    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for long periods, accumulate in fatty tissues, and pose risks to human health and wildlife through the food chain. They were widely used after World War II but have unforeseen negative effects. The initial 12 POPs identified under the Stockholm Convention fall into three categories: pesticides like DDT, industrial chemicals like PCBs, and unintentionally produced chemicals like dioxins. POP exposure is linked to cancer, developmental issues, and endocrine disruption, with dietary intake being the main source. Current efforts focus on banning POP production and use globally rather than removing existing pollutants from the environment.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10 views2 pages

    Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops)

    Uploaded by

    Vanessa Lopez
    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for long periods, accumulate in fatty tissues, and pose risks to human health and wildlife through the food chain. They were widely used after World War II but have unforeseen negative effects. The initial 12 POPs identified under the Stockholm Convention fall into three categories: pesticides like DDT, industrial chemicals like PCBs, and unintentionally produced chemicals like dioxins. POP exposure is linked to cancer, developmental issues, and endocrine disruption, with dietary intake being the main source. Current efforts focus on banning POP production and use globally rather than removing existing pollutants from the environment.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

    Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health and
    the environment around the world. Because they can be transported by wind and water, most POPs
    generated in one country can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released.
    They persist for long periods of time in the environment and can accumulate and pass from one species
    to the next through the food chain.

    What Are POPs?


    Many POPs were widely used during the boom in industrial production after World War II, when
    thousands of synthetic chemicals were introduced into commercial use. Many of these chemicals proved
    beneficial in pest and disease control, crop production, and industry. These same chemicals, however,
    have had unforeseen effects on human health and the environment.

    Many people are familiar with some of the most well-known POPs, such as PCBs, DDT, and dioxins.
    POPs include a range of substances that include:

    1. Intentionally produced chemicals currently or once used in agriculture, disease control,


    manufacturing, or industrial processes. Examples include PCBs, which have been useful in a
    variety of industrial applications (e.g., in electrical transformers and large capacitors, as hydraulic
    and heat exchange fluids, and as additives to paints and lubricants) and DDT, which is still used to
    control mosquitoes that carry malaria in some parts of the world.

    2. Unintentionally produced chemicals, such as dioxins, that result from some industrial processes
    and from combustion (for example, municipal and medical waste incineration and backyard
    burning of trash).

    The 12 initial POPs under the Stockholm Convention


    Initially, twelve POPs have been recognized as causing adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem
    and these can be placed in 3 categories:

     Pesticides: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex,


    toxaphene;

     Industrial chemicals: hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and

     By-products: hexachlorobenzene; polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated


    dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF), and PCBs.
    Health effects
    POP exposure may cause developmental defects, chronic illnesses, and death. Some are carcinogens
    per IARC, possibly including breast cancer. Many POPs are capable of endocrine disruption within
    the reproductive system, the central nervous system, or the immune system. People and animals are
    exposed to POPs mostly through their diet, occupationally, or while growing in the womb. For humans not
    exposed to POPs through accidental or occupational means, over 90% of exposure comes from animal
    product foods due to bioaccumulation in fat tissues and bioaccumulate through the food chain. In general,
    POP serum levels increase with age and tend to be higher in females than males.

    Studies have investigated the correlation between low level exposure of POPs and various diseases. In
    order to assess disease risk due to POPs in a particular location, government agencies may produce
    a human health risk assessment which takes into account the pollutants' bioavailability and their dose-
    response relationships.

    Control and removal in the environment


    Current studies aimed at minimizing POPs in the environment are investigating their behavior in photo
    catalytic oxidation reactions. POPs that are found in humans and in aquatic environments the most are
    the main subjects of these experiments. Aromatic and aliphatic degradation products have been
    identified in these reactions. Photochemical degradation is negligible compared to photocatalytic
    degradation.[26] A method of removal of POPs from marine environments that has been explored is
    adsorption. It occurs when an absorbable solute comes into contact with a solid with a porous surface
    structure. This technique was investigated by Mohamed Nageeb Rashed of Aswan University,
    Egypt.[27] Current efforts are more focused on banning the use and production of POPs worldwide rather
    than removal of POPs.[28]

    http://chm.pops.int/TheConvention/ThePOPs/The12InitialPOPs/tabid/296/Default.aspx

    https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/persistent-organic-pollutants-global-issue-global-
    response

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