The Effects of Organic Pollutants in Soil on Human Health (Poster)

The soil has always been depository of the organic chemicals produced naturally or anthropogenically. Soil contamination is a serious human and environmental problem. Evidence has shown the risks of adverse health effects with contaminated soil due to the large quantities of organic chemicals used in agriculture and urban areas that have a legacy of environmental pollution linked to industrial activities, coal burning, motor vehicle

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emissions, waste incineration and waste dumping. In agricultural areas, the increasing use of organic chemicals, and the resulting pollution has enormous potential for environmental damage.  The organic pollutants commonly found in soils are polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides, herbicides, gasoline and diesel. Other sources are the complex mixture of organic chemicals, metals and microorganisms in the effluent from septic systems, animal wastes and biowaste.Human exposure to organic pollutants in the soil is an area of toxicology that is very difficult to study due to the low concentration of the pollutants. The studies of single organic pollutants found in soils are limited and research on the metabolites and chemical mixtures are very limited. The majority of studies are at high doses and short periods of exposure, making the application of this data very difficult. Toxicologists needs to include persistent organics and bioaccumulating pollutants in more studies. We do not know if the addition of organics chemicals to the soil is creating very toxic xenobiotics, at very low concentrations, but with important health effects to humans.