Green Options

The US Environmental Protection Agency has imposed a record fine on a toxic ship dealer for attempting to export a ship containing deadly polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to the infamous shipbreaking beaches of South Asia.

Although PCB use has been largely banned in the United States since 1977, this persistent organic pollutant is still present in our environment. A recent report by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, a multidisciplinary organization created in response to the landmark report From Neurons to Neighborhoods : The Science of Early Childhood Development, found that prenatal exposure to PCBs disrupts ” brain plasticity during sensitive periods of development.” Particularly, children’s abilities to recognize sounds at different frequencies is impaired.

700,000 tons of PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto, makers of Roundup and genetically-engineered “frankenfoods“, between 1929-1977. Despite the fact that PCBs have not been made for thirty years in the US, environmental exposure is common because PCBs resist degradation. According to “The PCB in Me: Environmental PCB’s and Human Health Risks“,

Individuals may suffer exposure through the use of old fluorescent lighting fixtures, electrical devices, and appliances that were made at least 30 years ago. Food borne exposure is common when eating fish, especially sport fish caught in contaminated lakes or rivers, as well as some meats and dairy products.2 Other sources of exposure include hazardous waste sites, contaminated well water, and workplace exposure during repair and maintenance of PCB transformers, fluorescent lights, and other old electrical devices.2 An example of a common source of non-occupational exposure is a leaking power transformer on an electrical pole on a residential street.