ABSTRACT
Temperate Environments .................................................................. 267 11.5 Summary ......................................................................................................269 References .............................................................................................................. 270
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) belong to the so-called dirty dozen, a list of 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include dioxins, furans, and some pesticides (e.g., aldrin, chlordane, and DDT). The list was compiled in 2001 in the framework of the Stockholm Convention, whose aim was to protect human health and the environment by banning the production and reducing the release of some of the most hazardous chemicals known to humankind.
