pcbs

PCB Found in Sediment Samples of Deep-Sea Trench

PCB Found in Sediment Samples of Deep-Sea Trench

Researchers have found polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in samples of sediment sourced about 8,000 meters deep in the Atacama Trench, a deep-sea trench in the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coasts of Peru and Chile. Despite bans spanning back to the 1970s, PCB remains are still threatening the environment. New research, published […]

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    Your Tuna Can Carry 36 Times More Pollutants Depending on Where It Was Caught

    Your Tuna Can Carry 36 Times More Pollutants Depending on Where It Was Caught

    The next time you go out for seafood, you might want to ask where the tuna was caught. According to new research from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, the levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the muscle tissue of yellowfin tuna caught in the more industrialized areas […]

    Poison Papers: Monsanto Knew PCBs Were Toxic for Years But Sold Them Anyway

    Poison Papers: Monsanto Knew PCBs Were Toxic for Years But Sold Them Anyway

    Washington could have an ace up its sleeve in its major lawsuit against Monsanto over PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) contamination throughout the state. Before switching operations to agriculture, Monsanto was the primary manufacturer of PCBs, which was used for paints, electrical equipment and other products, from 1935 until 1977. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned […]

    The Poison Papers: Secret Concerns of Industry and Regulators on the Hazards of Pesticides and Other Chemicals

    The Poison Papers: Secret Concerns of Industry and Regulators on the Hazards of Pesticides and Other Chemicals

    The Bioscience Resource Project and the Center for Media and Democracy released a trove of rediscovered and newly digitized chemical industry and regulatory agency documents Wednesday stretching back to the 1920s. The documents are available here. Together, the papers show that both industry and regulators understood the extraordinary toxicity of many chemical products and worked […]

    Monsanto PCBs May Leave Orca Pod ‘Doomed to Extinction’

    Monsanto PCBs May Leave Orca Pod ‘Doomed to Extinction’

    By Carey Wedler The Guardian reported last Tuesday that Lulu, the full-grown whale who died, “was a member of the UK’s last resident pod and a postmortem also showed she had never produced a calf. The pollutants, called PCBs, are known to cause infertility and these latest findings add to strong evidence that the pod […]

    ‘Shocking’ Levels of PCBs Found in Beloved Orca

    ‘Shocking’ Levels of PCBs Found in Beloved Orca

    The tragic story of Lulu, a beloved orca found dead and entangled in fishing gear last year, has taken a turn for the worse. Experts with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme found the killer whale had “shocking levels of PCBs,” or polychlorinated biphenyls, a banned but highly pervasive toxic chemical. “The levels of PCB […]

    Major Victory for California Cities vs. Monsanto Over PCB Contamination

    Major Victory for California Cities vs. Monsanto Over PCB Contamination

    Monsanto may be looking forward to turning a new leaf with its potential $66 billion mega-merger with Bayer AG, but the agrochemical giant just can’t shake its notorious past as the primary manufacturer of highly toxic and banned substances called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that were once used for paints, electrical equipment and other products. […]

    Toxic Chemicals Banned in 70s Found in Deep Ocean Creatures

    Toxic Chemicals Banned in 70s Found in Deep Ocean Creatures

    English researchers have discovered an alarming amount of toxic pollution in the bodies of amphipods living in the deep sea trenches of the Pacific Ocean. The research team from Newcastle University, the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen caught and tested small crustaceans in the Mariana and Kermadec trenches, which reach about 30,000 […]

    Washington Becomes First State to Sue Monsanto Over PCBs, Accused of Knowing Its Toxicity for Decades

    Washington Becomes First State to Sue Monsanto Over PCBs, Accused of Knowing Its Toxicity for Decades

    Monsanto is facing yet another lawsuit over its alleged negligent handling of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), a banned and highly toxic group of chemicals that the company manufactured decades ago. But this time it’s not another city suing the biotech giant—it’s an entire state. Highly toxic PCBs have been found throughout Washington state, with more than […]