POPs Chemicals

    POPs are organic compounds considered to be toxic for humans and other living organisms, bioaccumulative, persistent in the environment and able to travel long distances from their point of origin. In addition, it is the moderate volatility of POPs that enables their long-distance atmospheric transport. POPs have low water solubility and high lipid solubility and are therefore easily transported through phospholipids in biological membranes and later deposited in adipose tissue and other tissues with high lipid levels. All these characteristics cause POPs to be widespread in the environment, even in the regions where they have never been used. The above stated properties of POPs make the specified chemicals one of the most important topics within the field of environmental protection, representing the issue which requires global solution. Such global solution is defined in the Stockholm Convention which entered into force in 2004.

   Having in mind that in period from 2010-2012 amendments to the Stockholm Convention came into force which extended the Annexes for 10 new POPs chemicals (chlordecone, hexabromobiphenyl (HBB), pentachlorobenzene, lindane (γ-HCH), alpha hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), beta hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether, hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether – (PBDEs), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS), including endosulfan and its related isomers, given in table 1, pursuant to Article 7 of this Convention, the Republic of Serbia is obliged to update NIP.

Table 1. Old and new POPs chemicals