蚱蜢效应（grasshopper effect）是指污染物透过挥发或是风力的影响，不断的释放至大气中，然后再借由沉降作用（例如降雨（回到陆地上，并随季节变化一直在反复进行着。

持久性有机污染物（persistent organic pollutants ，POPs）能经由大气传输到偏远地区、累积在食物链里面，并长期停留在自然环境中，而且需要数十年以上的时间才能够完全分解。而这些物质对生物会造成畸形胎儿的发生、肿瘤的产生、使抵抗力降低、生殖受到障碍等等的毒害。而目前已经有许多证据证明长期暴露于高浓度的POPs对人体会增加产生畸形儿的比例、甚至会造成不孕、智能降低、容易致癌等等的机会，并会降低人体之免疫功能使其较易受到感染。

Global distillation or the grasshopper effect is the geochemical process by which certain chemicals, most notably persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are transported from warmer to colder regions of the Earth, particularly the Poles and mountain tops. Global distillation explains why relatively high concentrations of POPs have been found in the Arctic environment and in the bodies of animals and people who live there, even though most of the chemicals have not been used in the region in appreciable amounts.