Persistent Organic Pollutants: Environmental Behaviour and Pathways of Human Exposure

by Stuart Harrad (Editor)

Overview

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) continue to be the subject of concern amongst the public, as well as the scientific and policy-making communities. These concerns are exemplified by the international efforts co-ordinated by the United Nations' Environment Programme and the +Economic Commission for Europe. Whilst the ultimate origin of this concern is the adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants in both humans and wildlife, there are other factors involved. In particular, whilst ambient concentrations of POPs in air and water present little direct hazard via inhalation and ingestion respectively, their propensity for transfer through the food chain means that species at the top of the ecological pyramid - including humans - can be exposed to concentrations of concern via their diet. Furthermore, their ability to undergo long-range atmospheric transport means that they represent a truly cross-boundary problem for mankind.
Persistent Organic Pollutants focuses on the sources, atmospheric behaviour, terrestrial and aquatic food chain transfer, and human exposure and fate aspects of this important class of chemicals. Other topical issues are addressed, namely: temporal trends in contamination; their transport to polar regions; and the significance of the former Warsaw Pact nations of Central and Eastern Europe as both a global reservoir and source of POPs. Whilst the main focus is on PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PAH; other organochlorine POPs such as DDT, lindane, and dieldrin are covered.
Persistent Organic Pollutants also provides up-to-date, detailed, and authoritative coverage required by academics, environmental consultants, and policy-makers. Sufficient introductory material is also included to be of relevance to final year undergraduates, Masters and PhD students in Environmental Science/Chemistry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461356202
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	10/21/2012
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2001
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Dr Stuart Harrad is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. He heads the NERC Network on POPs and has been selected to chair Dioxin 2008, a major conference on Halogenated POPs (1000 delegates).
He edited Persistent Organic Pollutants: Environmental Behaviour and Pathways of Human Exposure published by Kluwer in 2001.

Table of Contents

1 Budget and Source Inventories: Issues and Challenges.- 2 Atmospheric Fate and Behaviour.- 3 Transfer of POPs into Vegetation: Implications and Mechanisms.- 4 Transport and Fate in Food Animals.- 5 Human Exposure and Fate.- 6 Assessing Bioaccumulation Factors of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Aquatic Food-Chains.- 7 Temporal Trends in Environmental Contamination.- 8 Long-Range Transport: Implications for Polar Regions.- 9 An Eastern European Perspective.

Editorial Reviews

Nine contributions written by chemists, environmental scientists, environmental resource management specialists, and others from the US, UK, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic focus on the sources, environmental cycling, food chain transfer, and human exposure and fate aspects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), a class of chemicals with a number of proven adverse affects in humans and wildlife, as well as food chain transfer and long-range atmospheric transport problems. Other issues addressed include temporal trends in contamination; the implications of their transport to polar regions; and the significance of the former Warsaw Pact nations of central and eastern Europe as both a global reservoir and source of POPs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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