PCBs

9 Stories

Monsanto to Open Its Wallet Wide Again After Latest Verdict

Jury orders pharma giant to pay $857M to 7 sickened at school in Washington state

(Newser) - Six weeks after a California jury ordered Bayer's Monsanto to pay $332 million to a man who claimed his cancer was caused by Roundup weed killer, a jury in Washington state has ordered the pharmaceutical giant to pay $857 million to seven people who claimed they were likewise sickened...

At This AFB, Cancer Diagnoses Abound. Now, a New Find

Air Force finds unsafe carcinogen levels at Montana's Malmstrom nuclear missiles base

(Newser) - The Air Force has detected unsafe levels of a likely carcinogen at underground launch control centers at a Montana nuclear missile base where a striking number of men and women have reported cancer diagnoses. A new cleanup effort has now been ordered, reports the AP . The discovery "is the...

Chemical Banned Decades Ago Could Take Down Killer Whales
Study Gives Bleakest of
Outlooks for Killer Whales
new study

Study Gives Bleakest of Outlooks for Killer Whales

Study finds extremely high levels of PCBs in some orcas

(Newser) - It's less killer whale and more killed whales, at least according to a new study that found at least half the world's orcas could be taken down by ocean pollution in just a few decades. The culprit: highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. "Despite a near-global ban...

Dead Killer Whale's Body Holds Bleak Sign for Future

Lulu had 'shocking levels of PCBs' in her body

(Newser) - When Lulu died tangled in fishing nets in Scotland last year, she was one of the last killer whales in the UK. She was also "one of the most contaminated animals on the planet," Dr. Andrew Brownlow tells the BBC . Brownlow says Lulu's body contained "shocking...

Chemical Banned 35 Years Ago Found in Yellow Clothes

PCB-11 present in 'worrisome' levels

(Newser) - A chemical banned in the US 35 years ago is present in almost all yellow paper products and items of clothing, researchers warn. Though the production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which contaminate the environment and are believed to cause cancer, was outlawed, PCB-11 is allowed to remain in yellow pigment...

Navy Will Again Sink Ships Off US Coast

Re-starting old practice instead of recycling

(Newser) - The US Navy is resuming its practice of using old warships for target practice and sinking them in US coastal waters after a nearly two-year moratorium spurred by environmental and cost concerns. Later this month, three inactive vessels—Kilauea, Niagara Falls, and Concord—will be sent to a watery grave...

Puget Sound's Orcas in Trouble
 Puget Sound's Orcas in Trouble 

Puget Sound's Orcas in Trouble

(Newser) - The orca population in Washington’s Puget Sound is dropping, and scientists think a scarce food supply is to blame, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. A poor year for chinook salmon—and another is in the forecast—forced the killer whales to spend energy searching further afield for food. Two mature...

Pollution Decreasing Off US Shores: Study

Past 20 years have seen general contaminant decline

(Newser) - Levels of pesticides and other toxic chemicals in US coastal waters are generally decreasing, McClatchy reports. A 20-year study by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Mussel Watch looked at levels of 140 chemicals and found decreasing trends. Laws banning many of the chemicals were passed in the 1970s, but...

Polluted Fish Swamp Great Lakes
Polluted
Fish Swamp Great Lakes

Polluted Fish Swamp Great Lakes

Industrial chemicals raise contaminant levels into range unsafe for eating

(Newser) - Industrial chemicals contaminate many species of fish that populate the Great Lakes, making them too hazardous for safe human consumption, says a Canadian conservation group. "The lakes continue to be polluted to such an extent that human health is threatened," says a report released yesterday that lists industrial...

9 Stories