Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the sources, occurrence, transport and potential effects on biota of both legacy and new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Chile. The particular geography, orography and variety of climatic conditions throughout the territory have allowed transport mechanisms to be studied and understood in a context of altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Cold condensation of POPs in the Andes Mountains has been reported, as lower temperatures at higher elevations allow them to arrive via atmospheric transport and be deposited at high levels, as seen in air, sediment, soil and moss samples from remote lakes. Moreover, based on their physical-chemical properties, POPs have presented a long-range transport potential (LRTP), with high concentrations detected in remote zones in which anthropogenic activities are limited. Therefore, the cold condensation and fractionation hypotheses are explained on a shorter scale, i.e., from valleys to mountains. In addition, based on both the hydrophobic and persistent properties of POPs, research on biota with a special emphasis on marine organisms and Antarctic biota has been performed in recent years. Biomagnification and biotransport processes have been documented in remote areas of Chile. Our review provides an update on the state of POP knowledge in this region of the world, allowing the formulation of recommendations and an outlook.