scholarly journals Even in the remote South Pacific, fish are eating plastic – and so are the people who eat those fish

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
OCTO

Plastics are universally associated with pollutants. Chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates are commonly bonded to plastics during manufacturing. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) often adsorb onto plastics from surrounding waters when they are released into the ocean. Fish have been shown to ingest plastic and integrate these adsorbed pollutants into their tissues. Since fish are commonly served for human consumption, there are potential risks to human health and development from eating contaminated fish.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tee L. Guidotti

On 16 October 1996, a malfunction at the Swan Hills Special Waste Treatment Center (SHSWTC) in Alberta, Canada, released an undetermined quantity of persistent organic pollutants to the atmosphere. An ecologically based, staged health risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the human health risk, the findings of which are presented in Part 2, on Ecotoxicology and Human Health Risk. The incident resulted in the largest fine for an environmental infraction in Alberta history up to that time. Despite the incident, the province of Alberta has continued to subsidize the facility and has kept it in operation, with changes in management. The policy rationale is that if the facility were not available, accumulation and possible diversion of hazardous waste into illegal disposal alternatives would threaten the environment much more than operation of the plant. This case study illustrates an ecological approach to risk assessment and an attempted culturally sensitive approach to risk management. Incidents in which people are exposed to toxic substances do not occur in a social vacuum. Risk management strategies must be adapted to groups with different cultural values and expectations. Community and individual responses to such incidents, and the development of health advisory messages, may depend on presenting information on exposure and risk in terms consistent with cultural patterns among subpopulations in the community.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Barcauskaitė

Depending on the origin, the compost produced may contain not only nutrients but also pollutants, such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. It is very important to determine them in soil-improving substances, because persistent organic pollutants show environmental toxic, cancerogenic, mutagenic effects and do not decompose for a long time. The aim of this study was to determine seven polychlorinated biphenyls concentrations in different kinds of composts produced in Lithuania and to evaluate the appliance of these composts in agricultural land. First, before routine analysis was done a gas chromatography with electron-capture detector method was developed. In this study 145 samples of green waste, sewage sludge, cattle manure, food waste, mixed municipal waste, digestate and composts made from mixed municipal waste after mechanical–biological treatment were analysed. Obtained results show that 28% of investigated cattle manure composts (CMCs) and 10.5% of food waste composts (FWCs) were free from polychlorinated biphenyls. Other kinds of composts investigated in this study (green waste compost (GWC), sewage sludge compost (SSC), mixed municipal waste compost (MMWC), mixed municipal waste compost after mechanical biological treatment (MMWCABMT) and digestate (DIG)) were contaminated 100% with polychlorinated biphenyls. Despite the fact that polychlorinated biphenyls were forbidden 25 years ago, their concentration varied from 2.70 to 163.7 µg kg−1 in different kinds of composts produced in Lithuania. According to get an increasing average amount of Σ7 polychlorinated biphenyls, Lithuanian composts were distributed as follows CMC > GWC > DIG > FWC > SSC > MMWCABMT > MMWC.


Author(s):  
В.Ю. Цыганков

В главе представлена информация о Стокгольмской конвенции, этапах ее формирования и "грязной дюжине". Описаны физико-химические свойства, распределение в окружающей среде, метаболизм и деградация, токсичность основных стойких органических загрязняющих веществ (СОЗ), таких как хлорорганические пестициды (ХОП) и полихлорированные бифенилы (ПХБ). Ключевые слова: «грязная дюжина»; Стокгольмская конвенция; СОЗ; ХОП; ПХБ; физико-химические свойства; распределение в окружающей среде; метаболизм и деградация; токсичность. In the chapter, the "dirty dozen" of the Stockholm Convention and the stages of its formation are presented. The physical and chemical properties, distribution in the environment, metabolism and degradation, toxicity of the main persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are described. Keywords: "dirty dozen"; Stockholm Convention; POPs; OCP; PCBs; physical and chemical properties; distribution in the environment; metabolism and deg-radation; toxicity.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 2089-2094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold D. May ◽  
Greg S. Miller ◽  
Birthe V. Kjellerup ◽  
Kevin R. Sowers

ABSTRACT Anaerobic microbial dechlorination is an important step in the detoxification and elimination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), but a microorganism capable of coupling its growth to PCB dechlorination has not been isolated. Here we describe the isolation from sediment of an ultramicrobacterium, strain DF-1, which is capable of dechlorinating PCBs containing double-flanked chlorines added as single congeners or as Aroclor 1260 in contaminated soil. The isolate requires Desulfovibrio spp. in coculture or cell extract for growth on hydrogen and PCB in mineral medium. This is the first microorganism in pure culture demonstrated to grow by dehalorespiration with PCBs and the first isolate shown to dechlorinate weathered commercial mixtures of PCBs in historically contaminated sediments. The ability of this isolate to grow on PCBs in contaminated sediments represents a significant breakthrough for the development of in situ treatment strategies for this class of persistent organic pollutants.


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