Stephen Kudom Donyinah

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Stephen Kudom DonyinahAdditional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82465

**1. About POPs**

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemicals of global concern due to their potential for long-range transport, persistence in the environment, ability to biomagnify and bioaccumulate in ecosystems, as well as their significant negative effects on human health and the environment. The WHO further indicates humans are exposed to these chemicals in a variety of ways: mainly through the food we eat but also through the air we breathe, in the outdoors, in the indoors and at the workplace. The WHO further explains that many products used in our daily lives may contain POPs, which have been added to improve product characteristics, such as flame retardants or surfactants. This property renders POPs to be found virtually everywhere on our planet in measurable concentrations [1].
