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Organic Air Pollutants
Published in Stanley E. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2022
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are poorly biodegradable organic compounds recognized by international agreement as being particularly troublesome because they (1) last in the Earth System for many years; (2) tend to become widely distributed throughout the Earth System through natural processes that occur in the hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and especially the atmosphere; (3) accumulate in the fatty tissue of organisms, including humans, in especially higher concentrations at higher levels in the food chain; and (4) are toxic to humans and wildlife. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty, agreed upon in 2001 that went into effect in 2004 designed to eliminate or curtail the production and use of POPs. The initial list of 12 POPs included the pesticides aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, and toxaphene; the industrial chemicals hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and the manufacturing by-products hexachlorobenzene, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF), and PCBs. These substances are still regarded as the “dirty dozen” POPs. Although not on the dirty dozen list, other widely used highly degradation-resistant chemicals, including perfluorinated compounds and brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, are POPs.1,2
Organic Contaminants and Phytoremediation: A Critical Appraisal
Published in Jos T. Puthur, Om Parkash Dhankher, Bioenergy Crops, 2022
Rogimon P. Thomas, Joby Paul, V. Vinod, Kannan V. Manian
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic substances composed of organic (carbon-based) chemical compounds and they are present in our food, soil, air and water, e.g. PCBs and DDT. They are chiefly the products and spin-offs from industrial processes, chemical manufacture and ensuing wastes. Wildlife and humans around the world carry amounts of POPs in their bodies that are at or near levels that can cause injury (Guo et al. 2019). They accumulate in the body fat of animals especially human and marine mammals and are passed from mother to fetus. The characteristics that make POPs noxious and dangerous are toxicity, persistence, resistance to normal processes that break down contaminants and ease of travel to great distances on wind and water systems. Even minor quantities of POPs can make for violent and needless disturbance in human and animal tissue, engendering nervous system damage, diseases of the immune system, reproductive and developmental disorders, and cancers (Pawelczyk 2013).
Environmental Laws and Their Implications
Published in J.K. Yates, Daniel Castro-Lacouture, Sustainability in Engineering Design and Construction, 2018
J.K. Yates, Daniel Castro-Lacouture
The Stockholm Convention is another treaty developed and implemented by the UNFCC, and it is used to help reduce the global production, use, and release of 12 of the most harmful chemicals called persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are listed in Table 5.4.
Exposure of Akwesasne Mohawk women to polychlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorobenzene is associated with increased serum levels of thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2023
Florence Lee, Mia V. Gallo, Lawrence M. Schell, Julia Jennings, David A. Lawrence, Akwesasne Task Force On the Environment
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are found in the environment and are associated with immune dysregulation and detrimental health effects (Fair et al. 2021; Lee, Gallo, and Schell 2022; Soh and Aw 2019). Multiple toxicants have been associated with negative impacts on thyroid function including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Bella and Carpenter 2021; Little et al. 2022). Langer et al. (1998) found that workers chronically exposed to PCBs exhibited increased rates of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAbs), a marker of AITD, and were more likely to display thyroid dysfunction compared to controls. Other investigators demonstrated that concurrent exposure to organochlorines including hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p’-DDT), and PCBs were significantly related to higher TPOAb prevalence (Freire et al. 2013; Radikova et al. 2008; Schell et al. 2009).
Environmental applications and risks of nanomaterials: An introduction to CREST publications during 2018–2021
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2022
Scott A. Bradford, Chongyang Shen, Hyunjung Kim, Robert J. Letcher, Jörg Rinklebe, Yong Sik Ok, Lena Ma
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a very broad class of substances that are of great concern in the environment because of their presence in global environmental compartments, and bioaccumulation in biota, exposure effects, and toxicity. Wu et al. (2021) critically examined the use of magnetic NPs in conjunction with magnetic solid-phase extraction to determine trace concentrations of POPs (e.g., organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, pentachlorobenzene, pentachlorophenol, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, perfluorinated compounds, brominated flame retardants, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in environmental samples. Advantages of this approach include increased extraction efficiency and reductions in time, reagents, and labor. However, properties of environmental samples impact recovery efficiencies of POPs. Improved performance has been achieved by surface modification of magnetic NPs (with inorganic materials, carbonaceous materials, organic compounds, metal–organic frameworks, biosorbents, or their hybrid forms) to increase the dispersibility, stability, reusability, selectivity, and adsorption capacity. Additional progress can be achieved by novel functionalization of magnetic NPs, optimization and automation of joint extraction and detection techniques.
Oleuropein attenuates the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-perturbing effects on pancreatic β-cells
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2021
Eun Mi Choi, Kwang Sik Suh, Soo Jin Yun, Jinsun Park, So Young Park, Sang Ouk Chin, Suk Chon
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic compounds persistent in the environment and have potential adverse impacts on human and environmental health. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a persistent organic pollutant and the most potent toxicant among dioxin-like compounds. TCDD has a long half-life for elimination in humans and has been associated with a range of detrimental health effects.[1] TCDD is proposed to be a putative diabetogenic factor based on prospective studies and meta-analyses of human epidemiological and laboratory animal data.[2] Despite epidemiological observations indicating a close correlation between TCDD exposure and diabetes, biological studies have attempted to clarify the effects of TCDD on pancreatic beta-cell function. Novelli et al.[3] have demonstrated that a single low dose of TCDD was able to rapidly decrease pancreatic insulin content and to impair glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in rat islets. Furthermore, exposure of the insulin-secreting beta-cell line to low TCDD concentration impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, suggesting that pancreatic β-cells should be considered a relevant and sensitive target for TCDD toxicity.[4]