Persistence (chemistry)

In biology and environmental chemistry, persistence refers to the resistance of - mostly organic - chemical compounds to chemical-physical and biological degradation .

The degradability of foreign substances in organisms is assessed based on their bio-persistence , for example to assess whether mineral fiber dusts can be carcinogenic due to prolonged exposure to the lungs.

Particularly persistent compounds remain unchanged over long periods of time in the environment through physical, chemical or biological processes. On the one hand, persistence as stability or durability is desirable, on the other hand, it is ecologically undesirable.

The great stability of some substances leads to accumulations if they continue to enter the environment, which can lead to considerable harmful effects after ingestion by organisms . Substances of high persistence and harmful potential are, for example, many organic chlorine compounds , such as DDT , which are used, for example, as pesticides .

Particularly in the case of persistent substances that are lipophilic , there can be accumulations in the food chain ( biomagnification ).

If a substance can be degraded sufficiently quickly in the environment, but is always replenished through new entries, it is called pseudopersistence .

Examples

• Persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls or chlorofluorocarbons
• Plastics (with disintegration or decomposition times in the range of several hundred years, see e.g. microplastics , plastic waste , plastic waste in the oceans )

See also

• PBT substance
• vPvB substance

literature

• Eva Webster, Don Mackay , Frank Wania: Evaluating environmental persistence. In: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry . 17, 1998, p. 2148, doi: 10.1002 / etc.5620171104 .
• Ian T. Cousins, Carla A. Ng, Zhanyun Wang, Martin Scheringer : Why is high persistence alone a major cause of concern? In: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts . 21, 2019, pp. 781-792, doi: 10.1039 / c8em00515j .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wissenschaft-Online-Lexika: Entry on "Persistence" in the Lexicon of Biology. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Entry on persistence. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on September 6, 2013.
3. ↑ Certificate on fiber persistence , Fraunhofer Institute, 2008.
4. ↑ Possible health effects during processing , statement of the construction trade association, accessed on February 6, 2017.
5. ↑ Michael Angrick , Klaus Kümmerer, Lothar Meinzer: Sustainable chemistry. Experiences and perspectives. Metropolis, Marburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-89518-565-6 ; Abstract .
6. ↑ Christian G. Daughton: "Emerging" Chemicals as Pollutants in the Environment: a 21st Century Perspective . Renewable Resources Journal, Winter 2005, p. 13.