Analysis on a toxin in the environment, PCB
As one of POPs, PCB pollution has a unimaginable impact on the environment. PCB mainly comes from the extensive use of PCB factories worldwide, such as the motor factory uses PCB as insulating oil, and chemical plant extensive uses PCB as heat carrier and lubricating oil. The corrosion resistance of coating in ship contains PCB, so if it is dissolved by seawater, it is also a considerable pollution source. PCB from such sources enters the drainage system with the forms of waste oil, slurry, and paint peeling, deposits on the bottom, then slowly flows to the water, and pollutes ecology system. PCB in the atmosphere are mainly attached to the particles, and attached on the suspended particulate matter in the water. Under the condition of strong agitation or the presence of surfactant, PCB can be partially soluble in water. The oil polluting the sea can cause PCB disperse in water, and flow along with water. A lot of PCB dissolve in the oil film floating in the surface of sea and make the surface layer of plankton suffer serious damage. After PCB pollutes the atmosphere, water and soil, it enters the organisms through the food chain.
It is estimated that the total PCB reach 250 thousand to 300 thousand tons in ocean, soil, and atmosphere all over the world, with a wide range of pollution. From the seal in the North Pole, the yellow flesh in Galapagos, to the sea birds' eggs in Antarctic Pole, it can be detected with PCB, so the PCB pollution has become a global problem. After PCB is absorbed by people or other animals, it can widely distribute throughout tissues, among which the fat has the most of content. The test on mammals with acute toxicity of has showed that rabbit is 8 ~ 11 ...
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...lychlorinated biphenyls. The methods mentioned above can be taken full use to deal with the PCB pollution.
Works Cited
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Fein, G. G., Jacobson, J. L., Jacobson, S. W., Schwartz, P. M., & Dowler, J. K. (1984). Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls: effects on birth size and gestational age. The Journal of pediatrics, 105(2), 315-320.
Safe, S. (1990). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and related compounds: environmental and mechanistic considerations which support the development of toxic equivalency factors (TEFs). CRC Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 21(1), 51-88.
The Hudson River and PCB Pollution The Hudson River is a body of water that stretches for 315 miles from the Adirondack Mountains to the Battery in Manhattan, reaching its deepest point of 216 feet in the Highlands near Constitution Island and West Point and reaches its widest point of 3 miles across at Havestraw. This river is one of the most beautiful and scenic of the Tri-State area. Unfortunately, it happens to be New York’s most polluted river. The river has been influenced upon since the early 1600’s, when Englishman Henry Hudson commanded the Dutch ship Half Moon on an exploration of the river, certain that he had discovered a trade route to China. It soon dawned that this was no Atlantic-to-Pacific passage but an Edenlike place of awesome potential-a river valley teeming with prospect and spirit that was worth fighting for. In the centuries that followed, the fight for the river and its commerce never stopped, and still continues to the present. Then during the Industrial Revolution, with the advent of hulking manufacturing plants on the riverbanks, everything changed. The river became a sewer, cut off from the people around it by the electrification of the railroads. The 1825 completion of the Erie Canal instantly opened trade to the Midwest by linking Troy to Buffalo and established the Hudson River as the major commerce channel for New York City. Tycoons transformed the landscape in New York and across the country with the railroad, and the Hudson River valley became a hotbed for iron mining, limestone quarrying and clear-cutting. Toward the 19th century, when dynamite blasting was reducing the face of the Palisades to rubble, conservationists became alarmed that something was being lost to progress. In 1900, New York and New Jersey established the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to preserve the cliffs from further quarrying. Although conservation efforts continued into the 20th century, there was no progress to protect the Hudson River and its banks from industrial pollution. Some of the largest factories in the nation started production on the Hudson River, including Anaconda Wire and Cable in Hastings-on-Hudson and GM in the present day Sleepy Hallow, discharging waste into the river. There are numerous known contaminated sites around the U.S. Among the most dangerous of these, and of particular concern to residents of the Hudson Valley,...
EPA. (2009, December 29). Retrieved January 15, 2011, from Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health: http://www.epa.gov/teach/
The environmental health problems described in this book are that phthalates, PFOA and PCBs are dangerous chemicals. We are exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis and they are common household products and hygienic products. We are also increasing our exposure levels, which can create negative health effects and affect our environment. The magnitude of the problem is enormous. Everybody uses and are exposed these products on a daily basis.
Young mother Molly Jones Gray always wished of holding soft delicate babies in her hands, but never expected to have trouble trying to get pregnant. She had many miscarriages, and learned that because of household products she had could not become pregnant. She became part of a study to find out if there were any chemicals in her body that she did not know of. According to the study, Molly had higher levels of mercury, in contrast to the other women in the study. She also learned that the household cleaners she was currently using affected not only her, but also the fetus inside her. Health experts today are trying to examine the health risks involved with cosmetics, cleaning products, and cans (Toxic).
PPCPs that have been found in tap water and source water include an array of chemicals such as sulfamethoxazole: an antibiotic, estrone: an estrogen containing chemical, atrazine: a herbicide, naproxen: an anti-inflammatory drug and meprobamate: an anxiety medicine. (Alliance for the Great Lakes). The effect of these pharmaceuticals on the wildlife is no fairytale matter. The 2002 USGS report stated that endocrine disrupting chemicals (chemicals that alter the hormone balance in an organism) such as estrogene which is found in estrone were linked to the occurrence of intersexed, cancerous and reduced size organ...
Bisphenol A (2,2-(4,4-dihydroxydiphenyl)propane) can be found in many areas across the urban world, including the air that humans breathe and the water that humans drink. BPA is soluble in organic substances, which allows it to effectively enter the human system (Staples, 1998). It is a readily biodegradable compound with a half-life of three days that is easily metabolized in the adult human body, as well as in other organisms (Staples, 1998). A study found that 99% of BPA was degraded into carbon dioxide and water in microbial populations (Staples, 1998). Because of the quick degradation of BPA in organisms, including humans, it has been concluded that the intake of the chemical is much higher than what can be measured through processes like blood and urine sampling (Vandenburg, 2007). There tends to be low bioaccumulation of...
Yang, M. (2011). A current global view of environmental and occupational cancers. Journal Of Environmental Science And Health. Part C, Environmental Carcinogenesis & Ecotoxicology Reviews, 29(3), 223-249. doi:10.1080/10590501.2011.601848
Exposure to medications or drugs during pregnancy can result in abnormalities such as withdrawal symptom, respiratory problems, growth retardation, developmental retardation, congenital heart defects, caudal deficiency and CNS defects. Known prenatal birth defects resulting from environmental toxins such as Lead, mercury or PCB’s are miscarriage, CNS damage, spasticity, mental retardation, skin discoloration and low birth weight.
In the United States, starting from the first breast cancer case in 1930s to today, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer increases to one eighth (Gray et al.). Continuously increasing breast cancer rate has caused a lot of concerns among not only ordinary people but also scientists. For decades, scientists have been working on the causes of breast cancer in order to find the corresponding methods of treatment. However, only about 25% of the breast cancer cases got explained (Brody et al.); till today, heredity, lifetime exposure to environmental estrogen (the female sex hormone), and the dietary fat are the only major known causes (“Cover Story: Breast Cancer and Environment”). For the 75% unexplained breast cancers cases, scientists, through various of researches, have come up with several hypothetical breast cancer causes, in which synthetic chemicals and environmental radiations are the major ones.
Pesticides that behave like the female hormone estrogens can have serious effects on reproductive success and function on animal exposed to them. Reproductive success or fitness is defined by having live reproductively capable off...
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate is one of the most commonly used pesticides in the world. Unfortunately it is also extremely dangerous causing a range of health problems, from difficulty breathing to reduced fertility. It is also thought to cause cancer. ( Cox, 2008)
Humans are among the many terrestrial mammals affected by the endocrine-disrupting capabilities of bisphenol A. The majority of human exposure comes from consumption of BPA from food products packaged in polycarbonate plastics (Crain et al., 2007). Laboratory studies done on mice indicate that exposure to high concentrations of BPA can cause pregnancy complications, reproductive organ defects, obesity, early puberty, and cancer (reviewed by Flint et al., 2012).
Lead (Pb), a heavy metal element is found in the Earth, in small amounts in ore along with other metals. Lead due to its high abundance is also an environmental pollutant found in lead-based paints, soil, fuel, some toys and jewelry, and metal pipes and toxic if ingested [1]. Another environmental pollutant is 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), also known as dioxin. TCDD is the most toxic organic pollutant in the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins(PCDD) family. TCDD is produced from the unwanted byproduct of industrial processes and combustions emissions and has no known function for industrial or commercial use. TCDD is found throughout the environment in low levels but main exposure is caused by consuming dairy, meat and fish products,
Household chemicals were created for a reason, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be harmful to your health. For instance, pesticides used on household lawns are now proven to cause neurological disorders. These include depression, mania, learning disorders, A.D.H.D, immune system defects and memory problems. Not proven yet, but the same chemicals play a big part in leading research for the c...
If some women are not willing to give up their cosmetics during pregnancy, the ingredients in makeup can be lethal to the fetus. Nail polishes and hair sprays contain substances called phthalates, which is more commonly known as a plasticizer and can be found in the material to make rain coats and garden hoses, and its purpose is to make plastic more flexible but still strong (“Controversy Over Phthalates in Cosmetics” par 1) .When phthalates are absorbed into the skin, they could harm the fetus and, in baby boys, they could cause irregular genitals. Another ingredient, methylisothiazoline (or MIT for short), can be found in everyday shampoos and body washes such as Head and Shoulders, Suave and Pantene Hair conditioner, products a pregnant woman may very well use, and tests have shown that exposure to this ingredient could cause abnormal brain development in the fetus ("Popular shampoos contain toxic chemicals linked to nerve damage" par 2). However, these chemicals can cause health defi...