Past, Present, and Future Controls on Levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Global Environment

Abstract

International agreements to limit or ban the production and/or use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have largely proven effective. However the persistence of these contaminants means that their environmental presence is hardly removed. Therefore assessing the future risk posed by POPs will require better knowledge of biogeochemical cycles. As remarked in this Feature by Nizzetto et al., climate change could further complicate matters. With improvements in measurement and models, the hope is to improve environmental health and limit the spread of compounds still in use and emergent contaminants.