Mid-term evaluation of the project “Disposal of persistent organic pollutants and obsolete pesticides and strengthening sound pesticide management in Cameroon”

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Pesticide Management ◽  
Obsolete Pesticides ◽  
Term Evaluation

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Africa: Egyptian scenario

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 531-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameeh A Mansour
Keyword(s):  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Natural Activity ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Obsolete Pesticides

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic (carbon-based) compounds that include synthesized substances (pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]) and other by-product substances generated as a result of human and natural activity (dioxins and furans). Extensive scientific studies have shown that POPs are some of the most dangerous pollutants released into the environment by humans. Great efforts have been made since the early 1960s to enhance chemical management and safety issues. Various conventions have been adopted for this purpose: the Stockholm Convention (SC) is one of the well-known meetings in this context. The SC on POPs (May 2001) focuses on reducing and eliminating releases of 12 POPs coined the ‘Dirty Dozen’ by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Persistence of such chemicals in soils, air, and water, together with natural processes such as evaporation to the atmosphere and washout by rain and flood, give rise to their ubiquitous distribution in the environment and eventual penetration into food chains and bio-accumulation in humans. Public concern about contamination by POPs increased recently because several of these compounds are identified as hormone disruptors, which can alter normal function of endocrine and reproductive systems in humans and wildlife. African countries are using pesticides, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), lindane, toxaphene, endrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, since more than 50 years for combating agricultural pests and controlling disease vectors, especially malaria. The way in which pesticides are used in Africa caused serious environmental and health problems much more than elsewhere. These problems are represented by accumulation of organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues in different environmental samples and hosting of at least 50,000 tons of obsolete pesticides, as well as tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil. Within the framework of the Africa Stockpiles Program (ASP), huge quantities of pesticidal POPs have been completely or partially destroyed in a number of African countries (e.g. Egypt, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia). At regional level (i.e. African Countries), a strategic plan for monitoring and getting rid of POPs in the continent should be set up and implemented through coordination between all governments. Among issues of top priorities are to find alternative non-combustion technologies for disposing obsolete pesticides, and to use alternative control measures for mosquitoes’ management and other vector-borne diseases.

Geographic variation of persistent organic pollutants in Hawaiian monk seals Monachus schauinslandi in the main Hawaiian Islands

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Lopez ◽  
KD Hyrenbach ◽  
C Littnan ◽  
GM Ylitalo
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Hawaiian Islands ◽  
Monachus Schauinslandi ◽  
Monk Seals

Evaluating Risk After a Hazardous Waste Treatment Plant Released Persistent Organic Pollutants: Part 3, Aboriginal Health Risk and Impact

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tee L. Guidotti
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Aboriginal Health ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Hazardous Waste Treatment ◽  
Waste Treatment Plant ◽  
Health Canada

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 (POPs) into the atmosphere, including polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, and furans. The circumstances of exposure are detailed in Part 1, Background and Policy Issues. An ecologically based, staged health risk assessment was conducted in two parts with two levels of government as sponsors. The first, called the Swan Hills Study, is described in Part 2. A subsequent evaluation, described here in Part 3, was undertaken by Health Canada and focused exclusively on Aboriginal residents in three communities living near the lake, downwind, and downstream of the SHSWTC of the area. It was designed to isolate effects on members living a more traditional Aboriginal lifestyle. Aboriginal communities place great cultural emphasis on access to traditional lands and derive both cultural and health benefits from “country foods” such as venison (deer meat) and local fish. The suspicion of contamination of traditional lands and the food supply made risk management exceptionally difficult in this situation. The conclusion of both the Swan Hills and Lesser Slave Lake studies was that although POPs had entered the ecosystem, no effect could be demonstrated on human exposure or health outcome attributable to the incident. However, the value of this case study is in the detail of the process, not the ultimate dimensions of risk. The findings of the Lesser Slave Lake Study have not been published previously and are incomplete.

Low doses of persistent organic pollutants (PFOA and PCB153) increase the tumor aggressiveness of hormone-dependent cancer cells

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelie Charazac ◽  
Charlotte Hinault ◽  
Frederic Bost ◽  
Stephan Clavel ◽  
Nicolas Chevalier
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Low Doses ◽  
Tumor Aggressiveness

Persistent organic pollutants and toxic metals in foods

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Rose ◽  
Alwyn Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Organic Pollutants ◽  
Persistent Organic Pollutants ◽  
Toxic Metals
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