Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River

Marka Latif10/18/13

Life Science Class

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

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

Who, Where, What, When, and Why

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

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

Who, Where, What, When, and Whycontinued…

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

Why should the general public care?

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.

What was done/is being done?

Learn from what happened and take care of our own environment

Teach others about environmental issues and how they can be prevented or mitigated

What can WE do?

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

Summary

1. http://www.ewg.org/research/dishonorable-discharge/50-most-polluted-rivers-country (Fact slide 1)

2. http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/66655.html (The map on slide 3)

3. http://www.eco-knowhow.eu/basin/pop-monitoring.htm (Picture on slide 4)

4. http://www.epa.gov/hudson/faqs.htm#5 (General information)

5. http://www.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html#quest2 (General information)

6. http://www.lohud.com/article/20111023/NEWS01/110230338/ (Picture on the left on slide 7)

7. http://www.cashmandredging.com/project-details.php?ID=146 (Picture on the right on slide 7)