Persistent Organic Pollutants
Persistent organic pollutants (organochlorines) are of particular concern in the North because they break down very slowly in the cold environment and because of the properties of these compounds.
The current understanding of global transport is that these persistent chemicals tend to vaporize from soil and water in the mid-latitudes, travel about the earth and condense when they encounter colder air - returning to earth and working their way through food webs, ultimately accumulating in sediments and aquatic biota.
