Contamination from Industrial Toxicants

Abstract

Industrial toxicants are classified as chemicals that are natural and mobilized through anthropogenic processes or anthropogenic-produced chemicals that are released into the environment, contaminating waterways and aquifers, soil, air, and organisms – including food. These contaminants can reach food directly from point source contamination or indirectly through long-range atmospheric and biogeochemical processes. This chapter will focus on a few of the industrial pollutants commonly found in the world’s food supply and the mechanisms associated with their transport throughout the various environmental compartments. In addition, this chapter intends to touch upon toxicological effects in humans and the detection of these contaminants in food and the environment, which include: heavy metals, radionuclides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and brominated flame retardants.