ABSTRACT
Man-made chemicals have enhanced our quality of life for centuries through improvements in healthcare, industrial efciency, food production, and consequently increased economic prots. Other benets include improved re safety and simplication of daily activities (e.g., stain and stick repellant chemicals make cleaning household spills easier). However, some chemicals have consequences, especially those that persist for long periods as contaminants in the environment, preferentially accumulate in animal tissues (termed bioaccumulative), and have known toxicities. Chemical contaminants with these characteristics that are also organic in structure (consist of a carbon backbone) have been termed persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
