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What are Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)?
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a group of toxic chemicals that don’t break down easily in the environment. They can be intentionally produced and used in agriculture, disease and pest control, manufacturing, or industry. They can also be unintentionally produced from some industrial processes and from waste incineration, backyard trash burning, cigarette smoke, and vehicle exhaust.
POPs can travel regionally and around the world. They bioaccumulate in the fat tissue of humans and animals, biomagnify in food chains, and are persistent in the environment.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs. In 2001, it originally covered the 12 POPs of greatest concern, called the “dirty dozen:” aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, dioxins, endrin, furans, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, PCBs, and toxaphene. Another 16 additional chemicals were added to the treaty in 2017.
Where are Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) found?
POPs are found everywhere in the world in measurable amounts.
- • Food – fish, shellfish, or wild foods in which POPs have bioaccumulated
- • Air – indoors and outdoors, cigarette and secondhand smoke, and vehicle exhaust
- • Consumer products – pesticides, insecticides, cigarettes, and some paints
How can I be exposed to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)?
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) commonly enter(s) the body through:
- Ingestion (swallowing) Swallowing food or water contaminated with POPs
- Inhalation (breathing) Breathing indoor or outdoor air contaminated with POPs, vehicle exhaust, or cigarette and secondhand smoke
- Skin contact Touching products made with POPs
What happens when I am exposed to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)?
Exposure to certain POPs can cause various effects:
- • Greater susceptibility to disease
- • Contaminated breast milk
- • Damage to the immune, neurological, and reproductive systems
- • Endocrine disruption
- • Decreased comprehension
- • Birth defects
- • Cancer
- • Death
Who is at risk for exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)?
- • Subsistence fishers and hunters. Fish, shellfish, and wild foods that are locally obtained may have higher levels of POP contamination.
- • Women and men of child-bearing age. Exposure to POPs can harm human reproductive systems and a developing fetus.
- • Children and the elderly. Sensitive populations are more vulnerable to POPs.