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Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River . Marka Latif 10/18/13 Life Science Class. Did you know that the Hudson River is the 33 rd most polluted river in the US?. Who, Where, What, When, and Why. Who is polluting the Hudson River?

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Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River

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  1. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River Marka Latif 10/18/13 Life Science Class

  2. Did you know that the Hudson River is the 33rd most polluted river in the US?

  3. Who, Where, What, When, and Why • Who is polluting the Hudson River? • One of the largest sources of pollution into the Hudson River was from two General Electric (GE) capacitor manufacturing plants in New York. • Where is the Hudson River? • The Hudson River flows mostly through NY and a little bit through NJ

  4. Who, Where, What, When, and Whycontinued… • What is polluting the Hudson River? • A chemical called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) • PCBs were used a fire resistant material in making capacitors (improve power quality) • When did the Hudson River become polluted with PCBs? • From about 1950 to the end of the 1970s approximately 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were discharged into the Hudson River General Electric (GE) plants in New York

  5. Who, Where, What, When, and Whycontinued… • Why are PCBs a pollutant or contaminant? • PCBs flow through the water and “bioaccumulate” in living organisms • Bioaccumulate means that over time the amount of the PCBs in organisms increase as they go up in the food chain • PCBs are a probably carcinogen

  6. Why should the general public care? The general public in the Hudson River watershed should care because even today there are a lot of PCBs in the river and because of bioaccumulation there are a lot of PCBs in fish, birds, and mammals which can affect survival of the animals. The general public everywhere should care because Rivers and watersheds are connected and because the Hudson River could be used as an example for learning about taking care of the environment

  7. What was done/is being done? Dredging of a lot of PCB-contaminated sediment Education about the issue and what can be done to be aware of the problem and the risks to the environment and the community.

  8. What can WE do? Learn from what happened and take care of our own environment Teach others about environmental issues and how they can be prevented or mitigated

  9. Summary The Hudson River in NY was contaminated with PCBs from GE plants prior to the 1980s PCBs are very dangerous because they are molecules that can bioaccumulate When an organism is contaminated with PCBs their survival is at risk

  10. http://www.ewg.org/research/dishonorable-discharge/50-most-polluted-rivers-country (Fact slide 1) http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/66655.html (The map on slide 3) http://www.eco-knowhow.eu/basin/pop-monitoring.htm (Picture on slide 4) http://www.epa.gov/hudson/faqs.htm#5 (General information) http://www.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html#quest2 (General information) http://www.lohud.com/article/20111023/NEWS01/110230338/ (Picture on the left on slide 7) http://www.cashmandredging.com/project-details.php?ID=146 (Picture on the right on slide 7)

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