Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are man-made compounds that can stay in the environment for many years and can accumulate in fatty tissue. The Stockholm Convention in 2005 added nine more compounds to the “dirty dozen”. These POPs include pesticides which are organochlorine compounds such as aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, alpha and beta hexachlorocyclohexane (also by-products), chlordecone, and lindane. Industrial chemicals such as PCBs, hexachlorobenzene (also a pesticide), hexabromobiphenyl, hexa- and heptabromodiphenyl ether (commercial octabromodiphenyl ether), pentachlorobenzene, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its salts perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, tetra- and pentabromodiphenyl ether (commercial pentabromodiphenyl ether), and unintentional by- products compounds: polychlorinated dioxins and furans. These highly toxic substances are released into the environment though several human activities and travel long distances via air and water. The total distribution of POPs concentrations in water around the world is unknown. For that reason, Dr. Lorena M Rios of the Department of Natural Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Superior, is guest editing a special edition of the on-line journal Water and has issued a call for papers where you can share your research results of these POPs in water and related research in order to make available information about their global environment transport. Closing date 30th April, 2011.