This week I chose the second of the two articles given to us, the one about PCBs. I only know what we learned in class, so my knowledge doesn't extend as far as it probably could. From the reading, I learned about exposure to PCBs, health effects to this exposure, and laws that regulate PCB use. People years ago were exposed to this compound because many facilities improperly dumped excess waste all over the place! Even though it was a long time ago, it takes a very long amount of time for the compound to properly break down and no longer be a threat to our health. Prolonged consumption of PCBs can cause may forms of cancer and do permanent damage to your nervous, immune, reproductive, and endocrine system. The United States enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976, which stopped the usage of PCBs. Despite this, the effects of their use will linger for many decades until it all finally decomposes.
This information was brought up in class today when discussing the different types of harm that a disease or substance can have on the body. Based on the information from the article, PCBs are a carcinogen, endocrine disruptor, and neurotoxin. This also comes into play when we discuss different ways to avoid these kind of harmful substances. Having an aluminum water bottle would help us not only to save plastic but to avoid PCBs or other Harmful chemicals from entering our bodies.
A question I have is about the people affected by PCBs. Do they get to sue people who released the chemicals and used them in their products? What if the manufacturers honestly didn't know what they were doing was wrong?
