Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
may.pose.health.threat.to.local.residents.in.the.coastal.regions.of.China,.as.
the. EDI. of. DDTs. (33.39.ng/kg,. body. weight. per. day). by. residents. of. South.
China. through. consumption. of. seafood. in. South. China. well. exceeded. the.
acceptable. limit. (20.ng/kg,. body. weight. per. day). imposed. by. FAO/WHO.
(Yatawara.et.al..2009).
Qin.et.al..(2011).examined.some.major.food.items.available.in.Hong.Kong.
and.revealed.that.food.materials.such.as.goose.liver.and.chicken.skin,.which.
contained.more.fat,.had.the.highest.levels.of.POPs,.as.most.of.the.POPs.are.
lipophilic.and.tend.to.store.in.adipose.tissues..An.early.investigation.indi-
cated.that.higher.concentrations.of.DDTs.and.PCBs.were.detected.in.human.
milk. samples. collected. from. Guangzhou. and. Hong. Kong,. and. signiicant.
correlations.were.found.to.exist.between.the.age.of.donors.and.the.frequency.
of.their.ish.consumption.(Wong.et.al..2002).
With. assistance. from. the. Red. Cross. (Hong. Kong),. blood. samples. were.
collected.from.the. general.public,. and.it.was.noted.that.the.concentrations.
of. luorene. (a. congener.of.PAHs),.pp-DDE,. pp-DDT,.DDT,. PCB126,.As,.and.
Hg. were. signiicantly. correlated. with. the. frequency. of. seafood. consump-
tion.(Qin.et.al..2010)..There.seems.to.be.a.lack.of.information.related.to.how.
environmental.contaminants.cause. disease. incidence,. as.this. may. not.be.a.
straightforward. exposure-outcome. paradigm.. Nevertheless,. it. has. been.
shown. that. the. concentrations. of. certain. POPs. (DDTs,. PAHs). and. heavy.
metal/metalloid.(Hg,.Pb,.As).in.adipose.tissues.of.patients.with.uterine.leio-
myomas.were.closely.linked.with.seafood.diet,.BMI,.and.age.(Qin.et.al..2010).
Sources,Fates,andEffectsofToxicChemicals
When.monitoring.a.toxic.chemical,.it.is.essential.to.identify.the.sources,.trace.
its.fates.in.different.ecological.compartments,.and.assess.its.effects.on.biota.
and.human.beings..An.excellent.example.to.illustrate.the.sources,.fates,.and.
effects.of.toxic.chemicals.would.be.the.mercury.poisoning.case.mentioned.
earlier.. The. Chisso. factory. at. Minamata. Bay. produced. a. large. amount. of.
acetaldehyde,.using.mercury.sulfate.as.a.catalyst,.which.was.discharged.into.
Minamata.Bay.from.the.factory.between.1932.and.1968.(Walker.2010)..Methyl.
mercury,.an.organic.mercury.compound,.is.formed.through.methylation.of.
the. metallic. mercury. in. the. sediment. by. bacteria.. Methyl. mercury. can. be.
eficiently.bioaccumulated.(stored.in.lipids).in.aquatic.animals.(i.e.,.shrimps,.
ish). and. biomagniied. in. food. chains,. leading. to. extremely. high. concen-
trations.in.carnivorous.ish..Adverse.effects.were.irst.observed.in.cats.and.
birds.around.the.region.and.later.on.noticeable.symptoms.were.observed.in.
hundreds. of. people. who. had. high. mercury. levels,. greater. than. 50.ppm,. in.
their. hair. (with. an. extreme. case. of. 920.ppm). (Walker. 2010).. It. is,. therefore,.
extremely.important.to.inhibit.the.entry.of.environmental.contaminants.into.
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