Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Persistent Organic Pollutants ("POPs")

Strictly speaking, all toxins entering the environment can be regarded as environmental poisons. Certain pollutants can, acting over long periods, harm living organisms even in low concentrations. This means that pollutants that are stable and thus persistent have a great ability to act as environmental poisons. Their stability means not only that their effects are long-lasting, but also that t...

Selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Italian environment.

The ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a departure point for several considerations on their presence in environmental matrices. In this paper, the Italian situation is presented with emphasis on the most toxic compounds--chemicals with dioxin-like toxic action, and the activity in the area of interest of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Biotic, as wel...

Spheres of influence: no POPS. Persistent organic pollutants.

(ONFLICTING results have beeni reported with neonatal thymectomy in relation to several different chemical carcinogens given to animals by various routes. Some authors (Miller et al., 1963; Grant & Miller, 1965; Nomoto & Takeya, 1969) have shown that tumour induction could be increased in thymectomized animals when they were compared with a group that had had sham thymectomy. When thymectomized...

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): state of the science.

The environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are fascinating areas of scientific research. Our objective in this paper is to provide a brief, focussed overview of what constitutes a POP, highlight the harmful effects they may have on biota, make some comments on their environmental sources and analysis, their environmental trends and processes, their mov...

Persistence and Bioaccumulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)