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What Are Pcb’s And Why Were They Banned?
Polychlorinated Biphenyls were first used for industrial purposes in 1929 because of their useful chemical and physical properties mainly as form of coolant in machinery. In 1979, these compounds were found to be harmful to humans and the environment, and were therefore banned. Because PCBs are insoluble in water but soluble in lipids, they accumulate in adipose tissues, such as those in fish and in humans. PCBs also have a very long half-life, which attributes to their current relevance because long after they form, they can still be found in animal tissues and in water body sediments. Another reason why PCBs are so dangerous is because their half-life causes body burdens in humans, which means that once PCBs enter the human body, they will remain there for many years.
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July 31st, 2009 at 8:11 pm
PCB stands for Polychlorinated Biphenyls. They are a byproduct of certain industries. Chlorine is a very caustic (eats things up) agent, that is why it is used in pools and sewage treatment, in large quantities it can be deadly to humans. These can build up in marine animals, fish, called bioaccumulation, so when a human eats it they get poisoned by it. Phenyls are also very acidic.
July 31st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
PCB stands for PolyChlorinated Biphenyls. They are a class of organic compound that was used quite extensively in manufacturing and the electronics industry, and also as a pesticide at one point.
They are extremely toxic, and people were careless and polluted the environment with them.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorin…