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were so high that its carcass was classified as toxic waste, which it was illegal to dispose of at sea under American law.

The fact that the sale and use of many of the worst POPs (such as the organochlorine insecticides) have been banned by environmental regulations in the industrial countries does not mean the problem has gone away. Many such chemicals, even while being banned domestically, continued to be sold internationally to countries where environmental regulations were more lax. Countries from which we import food.

Conclusion:

The solution to food pollution is simple, and requires the following:

1. enforceable international bans concerning the manufacture and sale of the worst offenders at the global level.

2. required testing of artificial chemicals to determine whether they are POPs prior to their being allowed into the marketplace, also regulated at the global level.

By weeding out POPs from our chemical repertoire we can minimize the risk to both ecosystems and to human health. Because many POPs are incredibly persistent,however, it may be decades before our food supply is safe, even if we eliminate them all immediately.

References, further reading:

Anne Platt McGinn (2000) "POPs Culture," World Watch March-April.

Anne Platt McGinn (2000) "Oceans Are on the Critical List," USA Today Magazine.

Ted Williams, (1999) ":Lessons from Lake Apopka," Audubon, July-August.

Learn more about this author, Roy C Dudgeon.
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