Are We Consuming Toxic PCB From Bad Waste Management?

In just a few years, between their creation in 1930 and when they were banned in the late 1970s, highly toxic PCBs (also known as Polychlorinated biphenyls) were used in countless products and dumped into soil and water all over the world.

In the North America, the Monsanto company (the very same one that brought the world GMO crops) was responsible for most of the PCB production – several million tons of it. While also used as an insulating oil and lubricant, PCBs were also widely used as a pesticide. In one instance, PCB-laden sludge from another company was given to local farmers as a fertilizer in an effort to get rid of it.

Just How Much PCB is in the Food Supply?

Unfortunately, the highly stable and non-reactive characteristics that made PCBs useful to industry also makes them persistent in the environment. They are also “lipophilic” (attracted to fats) and are very likely to bio-accumulate in any organism higher up the food chain, such as meat animals or the people who consume them.