EN
In this review the most well-known examples of secondary effects and pollutants which occur in the particular elements of the environment (atmosphere, hydrosphere, soil and food products) are described. Very often pollution of the environment is characterized only by quantities of primary pollutants emitted to the particular elements of the environment. However, it is much more difficult to find any information on certain secondary effects and pollutants which can have a considerably higher influence on environmental degradation than the respective primary pollutants. This does not concern such well-known phenomena as acid rains, the greenhouse effect, depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere and smog. This paper also presents some less well-known secondary effects and pollutants such as sick building syndrome, dioxins formation during waste incineration, secondary pollution of water during water treatment, eutrophication of waters, food contamination during processing, and occurrence of PCB's in the environment.