Tanzania Multi Stakeholder Map - WebNG

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE STOCKHOLM CONVENTION ON POPs
1.1 What are Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
Chemicals are a vital part of our daily life. They provide society with a wide
range of benefits, particularly increased agricultural and industrial
production and improvements in the control of disease. However,
chemicals have the potential to cause considerable health and
environmental problems throughout their life cycle i.e. from production to
disposal.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) form one of the chemical groups that
pose a particular threat characterized by their toxicity, long lifetimes
(persistence) in the environment (air, water, soil, biota) and therefore can
move long distances, bioaccumulate through the food web, posing a risk
of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. They
include industrial chemicals such as PCBs, pesticides such as DDT and
combustion by-products such as dioxins and furans. POPs are known to
have significant immunological, neurological and reproductive health
effects.
1.2 Why are POPs a Global Issue?
POPs are semi-volatile chemicals which evaporate from the regions in
which they are used and are then transported over long distances in the
atmosphere. They are also discharged directly or by atmospheric
deposition into waterways and are transported by movement of fresh and
marine waters. The result is widespread distribution of POPs across the
globe, including regions where they have never been used. POPs occur at
low levels in air and water, so human concerns arise from their ability to
bioaccumulate in organisms rather than from direct exposure. POPs have
a tendency to accumulate in fatty tissue of organisms and bioconcentrate
in food chains making humans and wildlife at the top of food chain the
most risk.
POPs are a global issue for the environment and for human health. They
can cause birth defects, various cancers, immune system dysfunction, and
reproductive problems in wildlife. The weight of evidence indicates that
high levels of exposure over the long term may contribute to increasing
rates of birth defects, fertility problems, greater susceptibility to disease,
diminished intelligence, and some types of cancers in humans. Of major
concern for human health is the effect of exposure to POPs on the
developing foetus. POPs can accumulate in human tissues and pass
through the placenta to the foetus. Furthermore, POPs have been
detected in the breast milk of women throughout the world.
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