The UNDP-GEF POPs Resource Kit - International POPs Elimination ...

Research on the ways POPs impact human health is continuing. More data is still
needed documenting levels of POPs contamination in many countries. In addition, more
health studies are needed to further explore and document the specific ways POPs harm
human health under conditions in developing countries and under conditions in countries
with tropical climates. Still, we already know a great deal about impacts of POPs on human
health. Certainly, we know enough to justify urgent action now, to reduce and to eliminate
the human exposure to these toxic chemical pollutants.
Good evidence associates human exposure to specific POPs or classes of POPs with
health effects, including the following:
• Cancers and tumors at multiple sites;
• Neurobehavioral impairment including learning disorders, reduced performance on
standard tests and changes in temperament;
• Immune system changes;
• Reproductive deficits and sex-linked disorders;
• Shortened period of lactation in nursing mothers; and
• Diseases such as endometriosis (a painful, chronic gynecological disorder in which
uterine tissues grow outside the uterus), increased incidence of diabetes, and others.
The evidence suggests that women, infants, and children are especially vulnerable to
certain effects of POPs.
Mothers transfer POPs from their own body, through the placenta, into the fetus at
vulnerable stages of development. This can harm the developing infant. The harm caused,
however, is often not easily recognized. Learning and behavior disorders in children and
adolescents have been linked to pre-natal POPs exposure. Exposure to POPs before birth also
contributes to immune system disorders, to reproductive and sex-linked disorders, and to
some other diseases and deficits that may only begin later in life.
C. Properties of POPs
The Stockholm Convention identifies twelve substances as POPs under the
Convention. Some are pesticides; some are industrial chemicals; some are chemical
byproducts that are unintentionally formed and released to the environment in combustion
and chemical processes. The twelve initial POPs or global concern are: Aldrin, Chlordane,
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