Introduction
The long history of industrialization has taken its toll on the environment’s current condition. Many issues have been linked to human actions and processes connected to producing goods. The scientific community continues to unravel new pollution mechanisms and humankind’s influence on this process. One of the factors is the slow recycling of human-produced substances that leads to accumulation in certain areas, such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs).
Long-Term Environmental Impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants
Despite the ban on producing hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), the problem with these substances prevailing in the soil remains. Yan et al.’s (2020) research proves that DDT levels are still high in several regions of China. Sometimes, the measurements show results surpassing safety standards and endangering nearby biodiversity.
OCPs accumulate in biological tissues and damage the biochemical processes that harm the organism. This may lead to detrimental consequences of decreasing animal and plant populations in polluted areas. It is essential to notice that the highest levels of DDT were detected on sites of pesticide plants, even though the production was stopped in 1983. This proves the connection between human activity and environmental changes.
Even though the levels of OCPs are still high in some regions, they have been decreasing since the production ban. As the Yan et al. (2020) study explains, compared to past measurements from 2005 and 2015, DDT and HCH pollution statistics have shown promising trends in returning to the natural state. This illustrates how the lack of continuing human interaction lets the natural processes recycle the accumulated substances.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this example explores a small part of a bigger problem. The number of human-produced resources accumulating in ecosystems is significant enough to be worrisome. They harm local and global biodiversity as worldwide production continues to rise. Though the damage is irreversible in some cases, it is essential to account for nature’s abilities to adapt and regenerate when the active pollution period stops, thus letting microorganisms recycle the excess.
Reference
Ma, Y., Yun, X., Ruan, Z., Lu, C., Shi, Y., Qin, Q., Men, Z., Zou, D., Du, X., Xing, B., & Xie, Y. (2020). Review of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) contamination in Chinese soils. Science of The Total Environment, 749. Web.