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Pollution with Hazardous Substances

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Abstract

This chapter provides a short overview on the historical background of marine environmental pollution by hazardous substances and the measures implemented to minimize its amount and impact. In order to better understand the problems involved with contaminants in the marine environment, the basic common principles, e.g. their physico-chemical properties, persistency, behavior, and environmental impacts are described. Sources and fate of chemicals as well as their way into the environment also belong to the factors which are needed to know in order to assess the environmental risks of contaminants and protect the environment from its exposure and effects.

Examples are given for selected contaminants synthetized and used during different periods, starting in the mid of 1900 until the first decade of 2000, representing different classes of compounds: organochlorines (PCBs), organometals (TBT), and pharmaceuticals. For those examples, also information about the current status in areas of the Northeast Atlantic or the Baltic Sea is provided together with references and sources for further reading. The chapter ends with a summary on challenges and future perspectives.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), Hamburg, Germany

    Katja Broeg & Norbert Theobald

Authors
  1. Katja Broeg
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  2. Norbert Theobald
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katja Broeg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Advisory Council on the Environment, Berlin, Germany

    Markus Salomon

  2. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Till Markus

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Broeg, K., Theobald, N. (2018). Pollution with Hazardous Substances. In: Salomon, M., Markus, T. (eds) Handbook on Marine Environment Protection . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60156-4_20

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