Part I. Contaminants and Polar Regions 1. Contaminants 1.1 The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 1.2 The Basel and Rotterdam Conventions 1.3 The Persistent Organic Pollutants: basics on chemical structure, synthesis and production, main use, environmental sources, incidents 1.3.1 Chlorinated pesticides.

Case studies 1.3.2 Polychlorinated-dibenzo dioxins, polychlorinated-dibenzo furans. Case studies 1.3.3 Polychlorinated-biphenyls. Case studies 1.3.

4 Toxicity of dioxin-like compounds and toxic assessment. Case studies 1.3.5 Endocrine disruptor chemicals and their toxicity 1.3.6 Polybromodiphenyl ethers. Case studies 1.3.

7 Perfluoroalkyl substances. Case studies 1.3.8 Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products 1.4 Hydrocarbons and their derivate: basics on origin, transport, dispersion, degradation, remediation, incidents. Case studies 1.5 Persistent plastic materials (PPMs): basics on composition, origin, environmental sources, methods of study, dispersion and side-effects; plastics and POPs, plastics and plasticizers, damage to organisms 2. Global dispersion of POPs 2.

1 Contaminant properties affecting the contaminant global transport 2.2 Contamination and demography 2.2.1 The remote regions 2.3 Contaminant transport to remote regions.