Persistent organic pollutants in the environment: Risk assessment, hazards, and mitigation strategies

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are widely distributed toxic contaminants that pose a risk to both human and wildlife. They are persistent toxic compounds and can bio magnify with each food chain level. Moreover, due to grasshopper effect, the polar regions are also affected with POPs contaminants. In Stockholm convention, the use and production of POPs has been banned but there accumulated level in the environment is causing a concern. With time, the list of POPs in the environment has been increasing and causing various health effects in humans such as cancer, hormonal disturbances, gastrointestinal problems, reproductive defects, obesity etc. So, there is a continuous need of assessing risk due to POPs. This review provides an in-depth discussion on the status of POPs. We tried to gather as much information related to unintentional production of POPs. First, we briefly summarize the source and distribution of POPs followed by risk assessment and health effects. Furthermore, legislative management of POPs in India and key challenges in remediation have also been discussed.