Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs, include industrial chemicals such as PCBs, pesticides such as DDT, chlordane and toxaphene, and contaminants and by-products such as dioxins and furans.
POPs bioaccumulate in living organisms, persist in the environment and have long-term toxic effects.
They enter the environment as a result of human activity. The weight of scientific evidence strongly suggests that POPs cause significant adverse effects to human health and wildlife. A unique feature of POPs is that they move through the food chain to humans. They are passed on from mother to child across the placenta, and through breast milk. While most POPs have been banned or severely restricted in Canada for years, they are still produced, used and released in a number of other countries.