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Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Pollutants (Pbts)
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| Abstract: | Article describes the class of compounds known as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic pollutants (known as PBTs), including the mechanisms responsible for ability to build up the food chain and for causing adverse health effects and ecosystem damage. Exposure to numerous PBTs have been associated with effects on the nervous system, endocrine dysfunction, reproductive and developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. PBTs can travel long distances, moving among the "environmental compartments," i.e. biota, air, water, and land, and can persistent for decades, as evidenced by the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are found in sediment, soil, water, and organic tissues several decades after these substances were banned. PBTs may be organic compounds like the PCBs or dioxins, as well as metallic compounds, such as those of mercury, chromium, lead, and cadmium.
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| Citation: | Vallero, D. A. Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Pollutants (Pbts). McGraw-Hill 2005 Yearbook of Science & Technology, 1, Chapter3. McGraw-Hill Professional, New York, NY, (2005). |
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| Contact: |
Liz Hope - (919) 541-2785 or hope.elizabeth@epa.gov
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| Division: |
Human Exposure & Atmospheric Sciences Division |
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| Branch: |
Exposure Measurements & Analysis Branch |
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| Product Type: |
Book Chaptr |
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| Published: |
01/06/2005 |
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