Persistent Organic Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems

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Persistent Organic Pollutants in Marine Ecosystems
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Persistent Organic Pollutants

• Fate of PoPs
• Mechanisms of Environmental Control
• Characteristics
• Main groups
• Issues

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pcwww.liv.ac.uk/aquabiol/BIOL415_Web/
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Tri-Butyl Tin

• Nucella
• Imposex

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HalogenatedAromatic Hydrocarbons

• Chlorine
• Bromine
• Fluorine

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Types of PoP

• Pesticides
• Industrial Chemicals
• By-Products

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Associated Issues

• Bioaccumulation Biomagnification
• Loss of higher predators
• Adverse impacts on marine food chains
• Fish eating Gt Lakes of North America, Baltic
  North Sea
• Birth defects, reduced aptitude in new born
  babies
• Endocrine Disruption

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Stockholm Convention
UNEP decided to convene an Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee (INC) to prepare an legally
binding instrument on persistent organic
pollutants (POPs). The INC completed work on
the instrument, the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants, in December 2000.

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Stockholm convention

• The Convention entered into force on 17 May
  2004. 
• The first meeting of the Conference of the
  Parties took place from 2-6 May 2005 in Punta del
  Este, Uruguay

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PoPs in Swedish Breast Milk
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Toxicity of PoPs

• Related to structure
• Related to most toxic substance
• 2,3,7,8 tetrachloro dibenzo dioxin
• Toxicity Equivalent - TEQ
• Relative Factor of 1 for 2,3,7,8 TCDD

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Dioxins/Furans

• 75 individual chlorinated dioxins
• 135 individual chlorinated furans
• Very stable bind to soils and sediment

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DDT

• Old problem Peregrine Falcons etc
• Residues remain
• DDE oxidative environments
• DDD reducing environments
• Mersey estuary and Irish Sea

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PCBs Major Problems

• Baltic Sea North Sea
• Gt Lakes of North America
• Hudson River
• Local difficulties
• Mersey Estuary Liverpool Bay

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Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls

• 209 Compounds - ca 100 in env

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PCB

• Congener 209 Deca-choro biphenyl

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Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls

• 209 Compounds - ca 100 in env
• Highly inert
• Introduced 1930s
• Discovered in environment 1966 by Jensen in
  Sweden during analysis for DDT
• 750,000 tonnes manufactured

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Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls

• Banned by USEPA in new uses in 1979
• Manufacture completely banned in 1984

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Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls

• Technical Mixtures
• Arochlor 1242
• Arochlor 1254
• Arochlor 1262

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PCBs
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Brominated Fire Retardents

• Poly brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
• 209 Congeners

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Brominated FRs

• Among the many BFRs used in the world the main
  commercial BFRs are the following
• TBBPA Tetrabromobisphenol -A 
• HBCD Hexabromocyclododecane   
• PBB Polybrominated biphenyls - Phased out in
  Europe

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PBDEs

• Deca-BDE (Decabromodiphenyl ether) 
• Octa-BDE (Octabromodiphenyl ether) - Phased out
  in Europe 
• Penta-BDE (Pentabromodiphenyl ether) - Phased out
  in Europe

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Flame Retardents

• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

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Other Brominated materials

• Brominated polymers such as brominated epoxy,
  brominated polystyrene, brominated polycarbonate,
  poly (brominated acrylate), and brominated
  polyols. 

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Mersey Estuary

• High levels of BDEs especially
  DecaBromoDiphenylEther 209
• On-going research

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PoPs Impacts of tissue residues

• Endocrine Disruption

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Intersex Flounder
Intersex Mersey Male Flounder Gonad
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Endocrine Disruption

• Molluscs TBT - IMPOSEX

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Nucella