D10: Impact of Contaminants - Hydromod

Integrated Water Resource Management for Important Deep European Lakes and their Catchment Areas
EUROLAKES
D10: Impact of Contaminants
FP5_Contract No.: EVK1-CT1999-00004
Version: 4.0
Date: 25/07/01
File: D10-vers.4.0.doc
Page 22 of 136
5 BACKGROUND INFORMATION TO MATERIALS WITH A PUTATIVE
ENDOCRINE IMPACT
Persistent Organic Pollutants — POPs
In the technical terminology the name "Persistent Organic Pollutants" (POPs) is used.
POPs are synthetical chemicals composed of organic chemical compounds and mixtures.
Industrial chemicals like PCBs and pesticides like DDT belong to the POPs.
POPs are primary products or also involuntarily by-products of the industry and combustion
processes. All POPs are effective in very low concentrations, are extremely
persistent and hydrophobic. Due to their affinity for body fat they accumulate themselves
in the environment and the food chain up to a very high level with a dramatic
concentration increase in the respective organisms to the final consumer
[GREENPEACE AUSTRIA, WWF CANADA, WWF US].
The existence of POPs is relatively recent, since the industrial production started after
World War II. Today POPs are found almost everywhere - in our food, soil, air and
water. Some POPs exceptionally accumulate themselves. The content of POPs in the
water of the North Sea growths up to the content in the zooplankton about a 5 million
times and up to the fishes and birds body fat a 100 million times enrichment is
found [Greenpeace Austria, WWF US]. Both organisations refer that impairments of the
development and the physical health of humans, mammals, fishes, birds etc., indicated
by POPs, are numerously documented. Particularly in the case of humans an accurate
allocation to one cause is not usually possible. Due to the mixture of POPs and the humans
individual way of life with other factors of risk are the cause for this situation.
Apart from the ingestion, workers and residents of townships near POP-emission
sources for example can be exposed by inhalation and skin contact.
The persistent pollutants have the ability - when released into the environment - to be
transported on air currents or the water to places far away from their point of origin. In a
cold climate and at low solar radiation POPs are break down slowly and they scarcely
evaporate at very low temperatures. In consequence of that, a particularly strong accumulation
in the coldest regions of the earth, e. g. Greenland, Arctic and Antarctica takes
place [GREENPEACE AUSTRIA, WWF US]. In Austria, dioxins especially accumulate
in barrier effects in the mountains. An increase of the dioxin concentration in soil with
increase of the Sea level was ascertained [GREENPEACE AUSTRIA].
Global Spread
[LEISEWITZ 1996, WWF CANADA] refer to the ban of some substances (e. g.
DDT),which led to a decrease of the concentration in the water and also in organisms.
The high remaining base concentration at organochlorine compounds however is based
on the further input of substances from residual waste in the respective regions, the
remobilization of persistent materials from depots e. g. sediment, its accumulation in
organisms themselves and from the long-distance haulage from regions where they are
still used. Streams of the oceans, air currents and rivers, which pass the agriculture
runoff and industrial discharges into the oceans are important POP transport pathways.