Global Contamination Trends Of Persistent Organic Chemicals

Environmental pollution by man-made persistent organic chemicals (POCs) has been a serious global issue for over half a century. POCs are prevalent in air, water, soil, and organisms including wildlife and humans throughout the world. They do not degrade and cause long-term effect in organisms. Exposure to certain POCs may result in serious environmental and health effects including birth defects, diminished intelligence and certain types of cancers. Therefore, POCs have been the subject of an intensive regional, national and international effort to limit their production, use, and disposal of these chemical stocks. Trend monitoring studies are essential to make clear the behavior and fate of these compounds and to protect our environment and living resources. Global Contamination Trends of Persistent Organic Chemicals provides comprehensive coverage of spatial and temporal trends of classical and emerging contaminants in aquatic, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems, including the Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems. Compiled by an international group of experts, this volume covers: Spatial and temporal trends of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/DFs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), synthetic musks, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and octyl- and nonylphenols Environmental and biological matrices used for the trend studies were atmosphere, water, soil, sediment, bivalve mollusks, fish, marine mammals, terrestrial mammals, and human breast milk Spatial and temporal trend studies presented from Australia, Brazil, China, Estonia, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United States, coastal and open ocean environments, and the Arctic and Antarctic regions POCs have been the subject of an intensive regional, national, and international effort to limit their production and use, and to mitigate the disposal of these chemicals. Since POCs are prevalent in air, water, soil, and tissues of organisms (including wildlife and humans) throughout the world and do not degrade, they cause long-term effects in organisms. Trend monitoring studies are essential to make clear the behavior and fate of these compounds and to protect our environment and living resources. Relevant to professionals and students alike, Global Contamination Trends of Persistent Organic Chemicals facilitates the understanding of environmental and biological behavior of these chemicals and the development of strategies for protecting the global environment for future generations.

Since the mid 1990s, legal action to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has started resulting in a global Convention on POPs, the Stockholm Convention, and a regional Protocol under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UN-ECE LRTAP Convention). POPs are characterized by long half-lives, persistence in the environment, they undergo long-range transport, accumulate in the environment and in biota, and they are toxic. The combination of these characteristics makes them a threat at the global level. This book makes the reader familiar with the goals of these two conventions, lays out characteristics of these compounds, presents results from case studies and addresses inventories, levels in humans and the environment as well as technologies to destroy them.

Environmental pollution by man-made Persistent Organic Chemicals (POCs) has been a serious global issue for over half a century. Exposure to POCs may result in health effects, including, endocrine disruption leading to birth defects, intellectual disability, low testosterone, childhood obesity, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Therefore, POCs have been the subject of intensive regional, national, and international efforts to limit the production, use, and disposal of these chemicals. Since POCs are ubiquitous and recalcitrant, and cause long-term effects on wildlife and humans, trend monitoring studies are valuable in making clear the behavior and fate of these compounds and to protect our environment and living resources. The Pacific Basin is a unique geographical region representing tropical, temperate and polar zones. This region is home to two-thirds of the world's population and consists of rapidly growing economies (countries) and highly developed countries. Due to this diversity of climatic and socio-economic conditions, environment and biota in different countries in this basin have varying degrees of environmental contamination and effects on wildlife and humans. The Pacific Rim countries play a pivotal role in governing global POC contamination and resulting harmful health effects. Because articles on POCs and their effect on environment and health are published in a large number of different journals, it is useful to have a book that includes original papers and reviews on the latest advances by well-known scientists in the field, especially focusing on the countries in the Pacific Rim. The two volumes of this book satisfy this need. Topics covered in Volume 1 include an overview of POCs contamination status and trends in the Pacific Basin Countries; human exposure to brominated flame retardants; POCs in sediments, soil and atmosphere of South Korea; and new research on sequestration and redistribution of emerging and classical persistent organic pollutants by polystyrene. The collection of chapters in these volumes may serve as a reasonable representation of current and future trends of POCs in the Pacific Basin countries. It is hoped that the book can inspire students and researchers, as well as professionals, to facilitate the understanding of the environmental and biological behavior of these persistent chemicals and to help in the development of strategies and practices for protecting the global environment for future generations.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic, degradation resistant, bio accumulative, and display wide spatial distribution which has been linked to mutagenic, reproductive and immunological disorders. In Stockholm Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic, degradation resistant, bio-accumulative, and display wide spatial distribution, which has been linked to mutagenic, reproductive, and immunological disorders. At the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty was signed to minimize and ultimately eliminate the release of POPs into the environment. The present compilation regarding POPs focusses on the sources, atmospheric behavior, terrestrial and aquatic food chain transfer, human exposure, and fate aspects of this important class of chemicals, including topical issues like temporal trends in contamination. Furthermore, the chemical characteristics of individual POPs are also addressed. Features: Provides better understanding of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and how they affect humans and ecosystems. Includes genesis, categories, environmental fate and behavior, and associated hazards. Reviews analytical techniques involved in detection, human exposure and management. Discusses environmental dynamics of POPs. Focuses on the comprehensive account of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAH and other organochlorine POPs, such as DDT, lindane, and dieldrin. This book is aimed at researchers, professionals and graduate students in Life Science, Occupational Health and Safety, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) continue to be the subject of concern amongst the public, as well as the scientific and policy-making communities. These concerns are exemplified by the international efforts co-ordinated by the United Nations' Environment Programme and the +Economic Commission for Europe. Whilst the ultimate origin of this concern is the adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants in both humans and wildlife, there are other factors involved. In particular, whilst ambient concentrations of POPs in air and water present little direct hazard via inhalation and ingestion respectively, their propensity for transfer through the food chain means that species at the top of the ecological pyramid - including humans - can be exposed to concentrations of concern via their diet. Furthermore, their ability to undergo long-range atmospheric transport means that they represent a truly cross-boundary problem for mankind. Persistent Organic Pollutants focuses on the sources, atmospheric behaviour, terrestrial and aquatic food chain transfer, and human exposure and fate aspects of this important class of chemicals. Other topical issues are addressed, namely: temporal trends in contamination; their transport to polar regions; and the significance of the former Warsaw Pact nations of Central and Eastern Europe as both a global reservoir and source of POPs. Whilst the main focus is on PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PAH; other organochlorine POPs such as DDT, lindane, and dieldrin are covered. Persistent Organic Pollutants also provides up-to-date, detailed, and authoritative coverage required by academics, environmental consultants, and policy-makers. Sufficient introductory material is also included to be of relevance to final year undergraduates, Masters and PhD students in Environmental Science/Chemistry.

This volume describes the identification of emerging organic pollutants, mainly from industrial sources, their associated toxicological threats, and the latest green methods and biotechnological solutions to abate harmful impacts on people and the environment. The chapters present reviews on current applied toxicology research, occupational health hazards and green remedial solutions for pollution control in terrestrial and aquatic environments, with the aim of raising public awareness of these issues and providing chemists, toxicologists and environmental scientists with the knowledge to combat organic pollutants through sustainable means. Readers will learn about the multi-dimensional applications of materials and processes which harvest energy out of environmental remediation technologies, as well as the roles of biotechnology and nanotechnology in addressing high pollutant load. Specific attention is paid to technologies that draw energy through wastewater remediation, as this covers the primary means by which organic pollutants are introduced into the environment from industry and other sources. The book will be of use to pollution control boards, industry regulators, and students and researchers in the fields of biotechnology, biomedical science, hydrology and water chemistry.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that resist environmental degradation and cause deleterious effects on the environment and human wellbeing. Once released into the environment they can travel long distances and persist for longer duration. This book highlights the complex area of POPs in simple language and deals with the fundamentals of the chemicals, their sources, and impacts on human health. The book also unfolds several other aspects like new and advanced analytical detection methods, gaps in management, effectiveness of the Stockholm convention, and the role of the global monitoring plan on POPs for crucial and holistic understanding about POPs. It also investigates how to minimize the impact of POPs and the major gaps and challenges in sound management of POPs. With its comprehensive approach, this book is an indispensable source of knowledge for those studying and working to mitigate the effect of POPs in the environment.

This open access book reviews the trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in human milk and discusses the main findings of five global surveys that were coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 2000 to 2019. Human milk was selected as core matrix for human exposure under the Global Monitoring Plan for effectiveness evaluation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Milk from well-defined groups of mothers was collected and mixed to form a representative sample per country. Datasets collected represent the largest global human tissues survey with a harmonized protocol, carried out in a uniform format for more than two decades. Altogether 69 countries participated in these studies between 2000 and 2015, and more than 40 countries participated in the study from 2016 to 2019. Divided into 5 parts, the book offers an authoritative overview of human milk biomonitoring; collates the harmonized sampling requirements and analytical methods for the identification and quantification of contaminants in human milk; examines the results of the WHO/UNEP-coordinated exposure studies, including the identification of selected chlorinated pesticides, dioxin-like compounds, industrial chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and chlorinated paraffins, polybrominated POPs and PFAS, among others; and traces geographic, temporal and cross-substance trends and correlations, and human health risks. The book finishes by providing the reader with the summary of the main findings and outlook from these studies, in which the comparison of concentrations found for the wide range of POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention allowed the identification of possible needs for actions and follow-ups in different countries/regions. This book contributes to the understanding of exposure to hazardous chemicals and pollution as addressed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals on Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3) and will appeal to environmental and analytical chemists, researchers, professionals, and policymakers interested in learning more about contaminants in human milk. Given its breadth, this book will also appeal to a broader audience interested in maternal and child health.