POP- Persistent organic pollutants
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are hazardous chemicals that threaten human health and the planet’s ecosystems. POPs remain intact for a long time, widely distributed throughout the environment, accumulate and magnify in living organisms through the food chain, and are toxic to both humans and wildlife.
POPs have been widely used throughout the supply chain, in all kinds of products including pesticides, in industry processes and can also be released into the environment unintentionally. Some POPs banned decades ago (mirex, dieldrin, hexachlorobenzene) are still detected at elevated level around us today as these chemicals were made with the intention to last ‘forever’. With global chemical sales projected to grow to euro 6.6 trillion by 2030, and so many new chemicals and materials continuously being designed and released on the market – many of which could eventually become a POP – POPs are an increasing threat.
POPs travel long distances, they are found in the environment around the globe, including close to industrial and urban settings, but also in remote locations such as the Arctic, high mountains and Pacific Ocean trenches at 7-10,000 meters below sea level.
Why do POPs concern me?
Humans are exposed to POPs in a variety of ways, mainly through the food we eat, the air we breathe, in the outdoors, indoors and at the workplaces. Many products we use in our daily lives used to contain and/or may still contain POPs, which have been added to improve product characteristics, such as flame retardant or waterproofing.
Should I be worried by POPs?
Scientific evidence shows that long‐term exposure – to certain compounds under certain conditions – even to low levels of POPs can lead to increased cancer risk, reproductive disorders, alteration of the immune system, neurobehavioral impairment, endocrine disruption, genotoxicity and increased birth defects.
Some large/medium fish/mammals are considered unfit for consumption because of their PCB concentrations exceeding the standards.
A global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs
*One POP can be classified in more than one type
Entered into force in 2004, the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants calls for reduction or elimination of releases of POPs globally. Parties to the Convention commit to not produce or use of the chemicals listed in its annexes. New chemicals get added regularly. To date, 185 countries have ratified the Convention and 34 POPs are listed under the Convention as 17 pesticides, 15 industrial chemicals, 7 unintentional by-products.*
Pesticide use is a well-documented threat to birdlife, with bird populations having declined 20-25% since pre-agricultural times with one of the major causes being pesticides. The insect’s population’s decline linked to pesticides is also well documented.
What are POPs?
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are organic chemical substances, that is, they are carbon-based. They possess a particular combination of physical and chemical properties such that, once released into the environment, they:
- remain intact for exceptionally long periods of time (many years);
- become widely distributed throughout the environment as a result of natural processes involving soil, water and, most notably, air;
- accumulate in the living organisms including humans, and are found at higher concentrations at higher levels in the food chain; and
- are toxic to both humans and wildlife.
As a result of releases to the environment over the past several decades due especially to human activities, POPs are now widely distributed over large regions (including those where POPs have never been used) and, in some cases, they are found around the globe. This extensive contamination of environmental media and living organisms includes many foodstuffs and has resulted in the sustained exposure of many species, including humans, for periods of time that span generations, resulting in both acute and chronic toxic effects.
In addition, POPs concentrate in living organisms through another process called bioaccumulation. Fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans are high up in the food chain and so absorb the greatest concentrations. When they travel, the POPs travel with them. As a result of these two processes, POPs can be found in people and animals living in regions such as the Arctic, thousands of kilometers from any major POPs source.
Specific effects of POPs can include cancer, allergies and hypersensitivity, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune system. Some POPs are also considered to be endocrine disrupters, which, by altering the hormonal system, can damage the reproductive and immune systems of exposed individuals as well as their offspring; they can also have developmental and carcinogenic effects.
POP TEST PARAMETERS AVAILABLE WITH FGT CPS
- FOR FAST SERVICES ADDITIONAL CHARGES WILL BE APPLICABLE:
- 24 HR SERVICE-2 x normal charges
- 48 HR SERVICE-1.5 x normal charges
POP SUBSTANCE NAME:
compliant with the Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, list of controlled substances as follows:
• Compliance with prohibition of the manufacturing, placing on the market and use of substances listed in Annex I, whether on their own, in mixtures or in articles (Art. 3(1) and Annex I POP) for all our articles we have sold / shipped.
• Compliance with restriction of manufacturing, placing on the market and use of substances listed in Annex II, whether on their own, in mixtures or in articles (Art. 3(2) and Annex II POP) for all our articles we have sold / shipped
| S. N | Substance Name | CAS NO | SAMPLE REQUIRE | TAT/NORMAL SERVICE |
| 1 | Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds | 335-67-1 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 2 | Tetrabromodiphenyl ether | 40088-47-9 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 3 | Pentabromodiphenyl ether | 32534-81-9 189084-66-0 182346-21-0 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 4 | Hexabromobiphenyl ether | 36483-60-0 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 5 | Pentabromodiphenyl ether | 68928-80-3 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 6 | Bis(pentabromophenyl) ether | 1163-19-5 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 7 | Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives (PFOS) | 307-35-7 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 8 | DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl) ethane) ,Clofenotane | 50-29-3 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 9 | Chlordane | 57-74-9 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 10 | Hexachlorocyclohexanes, including lindane | 58-89-9;319-84-6;319-8 5-7;608-73-1 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 11 | Dieldrin | 60-57-1 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 12 | Endrin | 72-20-8 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 13 | Heptachlor | 76-44-8 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 14 | Endosulfan | 115-29-7;959-98-8;3321 3-65-9 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 15 | Hexachlorobenzene | 118-74-1 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 16 | Chlordecone | 143-50-0 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 17 | Aldrin | 309-00-2 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 18 | Pentachloro benzene | 608-93-5 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 19 | Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) | 1336-36-3 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 20 | Mirex | 2385-85-5 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 21 | Toxaphene | 8001-35-2 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 22 | Hexabromobiphenyl | 36355-01-8 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 23 | Hexabromocyclododecane | 25637-99-4;3194-55-6; 134237-50-6;134237-51 -7;134237-52-8 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 24 | Hexachlorobutadiene | 87-68-3 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 25 | Pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters | 87-86-5 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 26 | Polychlorinated naphthalene’s | 70776-03-3 (and others) | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 27 | Alkanes C10-C13, chloro (short-chain chlorinated paraffins) (SCCPs) | 85535-84-8 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 28 | Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/PCDF) | – | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 29 | Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) | – | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |
| 30 | Dicofol | 115-32-2 | A4 SHEET | 3-4 DAYS |