Persistent Organic Pollutants Francisco da Fonte Martins Lopes dos Santos Kateřina Tuháčková Barbora Černá Definition POPs are stable toxic manmade chemicals that harmfully affect human health and the environment and that are accumulated in the environment. Persistent = chemicals are stable and persist for a long time in the environment and can be accumulated and pass from one species to the next one (food chain) -> bioaccumulation Organic = compounds with carbon-hydrogen bonds (C-H) or bonds between carbon atoms (C-C). Can be found in living organisms/synthetic/naturally occurring. Pollutants = POPs can be transported by wind and water -> pollution can affect people and wildlife far from the place of the POPs origin How does it work? 1) POPs are used in pest and disease control, crop production, industry, clothing industry, colours, cleaners,... 2) Human and animals touch conatamin surface pr waste, consume food or water with toxic chemicals. Plants and fungi obtain nutrients and water from contaminated soil and are exposed to polluted environment. 3) POPs stay in our organism (accumulate in animal fat), usually they are resistant to photochemical, biological and chemical degradation. 4) We are in contact with POPs repeatedly -> chemicals are cumulated in our organism in small steps. 5) When there is a higher level of POP in our body, it will cause a serious health issue. Characteristics -Stability (halogenation, aromatic rings…) -Lipophilic -Semi volatility -Long half-lives -Ubiquitous Examples of Pops -DDT (Outdated pesticide) -PCB (Plastic/Industrial applications) -PAH (Incomplete combustion) -Dioxins (Manufacturing byproducts) -Pharmaceutical compounds Problems associated - Cancer risk - Reproductive and development disorders - Immune problems - Neurotoxicity - Endocrine disruption - Genotoxicity - Ecological harm -Threat to biodiversity (Epa) Transportation Aarhus protocol 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Aims to control, reduce, or eliminate discharges, emissions, and losses of persistent organic pollutants Europe, some former Soviet Union countries and the United States 16 substances (11 pesticides, 2 industrial chemicals, 3 by-products) Stockholm convention May 22-23 2001 in Stockholm United National Environment Programme (UNE) 185 countries worldwide Included 12 substances and their groups at the time of signing Currently covers 30 substances, with more under review due to their hazardous nature Czech Republic Ministry of the Environment National Action Plan Programs for the Removal of Old Pesticides Education and Awareness Campaigns Research and Monitoring International Cooperation ● we can monitor level of POPs in organism by blood or milk tests (POPs are located in fats mostly) ○ blood donors (18 - 61 y. o.) ○ breastfeeding mothers (2 - 8 weeks) ● Czech Republic: monitoring between 1996 - 2011 in human breast milk ○ results: the exposure to POPs is low but still significant, intake of these substances is decreasing Local cases ● Toxic cube sold in the Czech Republic ● Spolana chemical plant in Neratovice - along the Elbe River ● 260 ha large ● products: PVC, caprolactam, NaOH, HCl, H2SO4, fertilizer ● produce: dioxins, mercury, and DDT ● floods of August 2002 -> hazardous chemical spills occurred ● alarming levels of POPs in local soil and food products -> a ban on local consumption. ● two contaminated sites were successfully remediated between 2005 and 2008 using non-incineration technologies ● in 2016 - became a part of ORLEN Unipetrol Spolana Neratovice Spolana Neratovice Hazardous Waste Incineration and POPs waste stockpile at Lysá nad Labem ● built in the 1990s in Lysá nad Labem to manage hazardous waste ○ POPs (PCBs, dioxins, DDT) found in soil, food, wildlife ● 2003: pollutants detected in poultry, fisk and soil ● closed in 2007 after frequent emissions of toxic substances ● reopened in 2012 - yet pollution continued, occasionally released through an emergency chimney. ● 2013: dioxin filter issues led to shutdown Hazardous Waste Incineration and POPs waste stockpile at Lysá nad Labem Hazardous Waste Incineration and POPs waste stockpile at Lysá nad Labem Unipetrol Litvínov POPs removal options Thermal Reductive Bioremediation QUIZZ - Question 1 What does bioacumulation mean? QUIZZ - Question 2 How do we call process when the concentration of persistant pollutants increse at higher levels of the food chain? QUIZZ - Question 3 Wich one of these is not a characteristic of pops? a) High volatility b) Ubiquitous c) Hydrophobic d) Persistant QUIZZ - Question 4 Which of the following is NOT classified as a persistent organic pollutant? A)DDT B)Mercury C)PCB D)Aldrin QUIZZ - Question 5 What company is the biggest POPs pollutor in the Czech Republic? QUIZZ - Question 6 How many substances were included in the Aarhus protocol? A)37 B)48 C)12 D)16 Debriefing POPs have ability to persist in environment, bioaccumulation in food chain and have toxic effect on health and ecosystem Main sources: industrial processes, pesticides, waste burning They can be spread by air, water or food chain Heath effect: hormonal disruption, reproductive issue, increase risk of cancer, effect on the nervous and immune system Aarhus protocol and Stockholm convention Resources U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response. Online. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2024. Dostupné z: https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/persistent-organic-pollutants-global-issue-global-response#pops. [cit. 2024-10-28]. Perzistentní organické látky. Online. Data o zdraví. Dostupné z: https://www.dataozdravi.cz/temata/clanky/znecisteni/perzistentniorganickelatky. [cit. 2024-10-28]. What are POPs? Online. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Dostupné z: https://www.pops.int/TheConvention/ThePOPs/tabid/673/Default.aspx. [cit. 2024-10-28]. Znečišťovatele pod lupou. Online. Znečišťovatele pod lupou. 2023. Dostupné z: https://znecistovatele.cz/. [cit. 2024-10-29]. Zátěž české populace POPs. Online. GENASIS repozitář vědeckých environmentálních dat. 2012. Dostupné z: https://www.genasis.cz/index.php?pg=publikace--narodni-inventura-pops--narodni-inventura-pops-2007--zatez-ceskepopulace-pops. [cit. 2024-10-29]. Z historie Greenpeace: Jak se psal příběh plný jedů v neratovické Spolaně. Online. Greenpeace. 2021. Dostupné z: https://www.greenpeace.org/czech/clanek/14997/50-let-greenpeace-jak-se-psal-pribeh-plny-jedu-v-neratovicke-spolane/. [cit. 2024-10-29]. Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) The 1998 Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Online. Dostupné z: UNECE, https://unece.org/environment-policy/air/protocol-persistent-organic-pollutants-pops. [cit. 2024-10-29]. Stockholmská úmluva. Online. Arnika. Dostupné z: https://arnika.org/toxicke-latky/nase-temata/zakony-a-umluvy/stockholmska-umluva. [cit. 2024-10-29]. FILIP, Lukáš a ZOLAL, Aram. PERZISTENTNÍ ORGANICKÉ LÁTKY V ŽIVOTNÍM PROSTŘEDÍ A TECHNOLOGIE PRO JEJICH ODSTRAŇOVÁNÍ. Online. 2017, s. 7. Dostupné z: Chemické listy, http://www.chemicke-listy.cz/ojs3/index.php/chemicke-listy/article/view/2821/2808. [cit. 2024-10-29]. Resources