Walking Gichigami - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 152

Table 8.1 The Dirty Dozen - persistent organic pollutants

Chemical or class Notes

Aldrin Pesticide widely used on corn and cotton until 1970. EPA

allowed its use for termites until manufacturer cancelled
registration in 1987. Closely related to dieldrin

Chlordane Pesticide on agricultural crops, lawns, and gardens and a

fumigant for termite control. All uses were banned in the
United States in 1988 but still produced for export

DDT Pesticide still used for malaria control in the tropics. Banned

for all but emergency uses in the United States in 1972

Dieldrin Pesticide widely used on corn and cotton until 1970. EPA

allowed its use for termites until manufacturer cancelled
registration in 1987. A breakdown product of aldrin

Endrin Used as a pesticide to control insects, rodents, and birds.

Not produced or sold for general use in the United States
since 1986

Heptachlor Insecticide in household and agricultural uses until 1988.

Also a component and a breakdown product of chlordane

Hexachloro- Pesticide and fungicide used on seeds, also an industrial

benzene byproduct. Not widely used in the United States since

1965

Mirex Insecticide and flame retardant not used or manufactured in

the United States since 1978

Toxaphene Insecticide used primarily on cotton. Most uses in the

United States were banned in 1982, and all uses in 1990

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls, widely used in electrical

equipment and other uses. Manufacture of PCBs banned in
the United States in 1977

Polychlorinated Two notorious classes of “unintentional” pollutants, of

byproducts Dioxins and incineration and industrial processes. Regulated in the

Polychlorinated Furans United States under air, water, food quality, occupational

safety, waste, and other statutes

Source : www.uspopswatch.org/global/dirty-dozen.htm.

Chemical pollutants and human and ecosystem health
Once released, these pollutants are deposited regionally, but they also find their
way into the atmosphere and are eventually deposited into the cold waters of higher
latitudes. Although not visible to the human eye, the toxins biointensify in cold
water species such as trout and sturgeon in Lake Superior, and whales and seals in
the Arctic. For the Indigenous communities that rely on the lake for food sources
- such as the Ojibwa of Lake Superior, the Inuit of Baffin Island, and the Aleut
of Northern Alaska - the outcomes are dire.