Document qd3xadrxwKMRXE26RbB7J8kQE

by John Noble and Harry Rothman In September last year the corpses of over 8,000 sea birds were washed up on our coasts from.Northern Irclund, Ayrshire, Oimlivrl.iikI, luHiensliirc to North Wales. Wc may new fully iiiuterc.tuiid how this ilhiiNli*!' I'linit' iiboat for only citilit uf the ilrml birds were properly examined for toxie chemicals etc. However, they ail contained larger than usual amounts of one particular roni|>uml, polychlorinated hiplienvl or l'< 'It. To most HrtJiitnlivi, the mime I't 'It meant iiolliloi;. l ur this reason we feel Hint it is worthwhile himooarisiiiit the eiivrent state ol kiinnlrili'o of enviroiunenlnl piillotlmi by I't `It. PCI1 is not a single compound but a general name for a whole family c compounds with a common basic struc ture. Mixtures of PCB compounds have interesting properties enabling them to be used in diverse technical areas. Our awareness of the ecological implications of PCB is comparatively reccr.t and so it comes as a surprise to many people that commercial many, tacture of PCB was begun as far back as 1929 by the Chemical Company of America. It was noted recently that the effects of exposure to PCB are not limited only to the immediate location of its use. Since then PCB production has spread to most major industrial coun tries, including Britain. Monsant^are still the major manufacturcrTcrc and market PCB mixtures under the trade name Arochlor. PCB is made by adding chlorine to biptfcnyls, lerphenyls and other more complex poly-phcnyls. Chlorination is done in special cylindrical steel towers three feet in diameter and eighteen feet high using special catalysts and heat. The technical uses of PCB depend on their great chemical stability and social physical properties, which may be varied to suit specific applications. PCB has a number of uses in the elec trical industry, in paints and varnishes where they have a similar role to oil except that they do not oxidise and lose their flexibility with age. Resinous products of PCB arc un integral part <>r synthetic adhesives. Lubricants for use muter extreme conditions often contain PCB. The national and international pro duction figures for PCD have never been published but wc can see from the list of its applications that PCB is used on a large scale. Tor such a widely used compound, toxicological data were pretty sparse, yet it was noticed recently that the effects of exposure to IK It arc not lim ited ivnlv to the immediate locution of tlx use. AtlVfts skin mill liver . lu the Mnuthml (ext on industrial loiii ohtyy, of to* Jusirfttl chftnU-ulx by Sax. IK'll is re potted to "have two distinct acJons on the body, namely a skii clfoct t nd a toxic action on the liver. The Ijs.on produced in the liver is an acute yellow atrophy... The higher ife chloiine content of the diphenyl (* biphenyl) compound, the more toxic it is liable to be... The skin lesion is known as chlorache, and consists of small pimples and dark pigmomation of the exposed areas initially. Later comedones and pustules develop. In persons who have suffered from systemic intoxiculion the usual signs and symptoms are nausea, vomiting and loss of weight, jaundice, edema and abdominal pain. Where the liver damage is severe the patient may pass into a coma and die. PCB is also recognised as a disaster hazard, for highly toxic fumes are given off when it is heated to decomposition. Of course these are acute effects resulting from exposure to very high concentrations. Such a danger could only arise in the event of an industrial accident,'* A very disturbing finding about the biological effects of PCB is that they can have an insidious effect on the hormonal system of birds. Hormones arc vital in co-ordinating the complex biochemical reactions of living organ isms. Any interference with the normal body-regulating effects of hormones could have a profound effect on an organism, for they control rates of growth, ultimate body muc and shape, masculinity or femininity, mcmai and physical alertness, Effect on birds The way in which PCB interferes with the hormonal systems of bird*, is com plex and not yet fully urderstood. Only a small quantity of PCB can speed up the production of certain enzymes produced by small bodies in the liver, a process called e.uymc in duction. As a result, the cutc.um meta bolism so vitul in egg production, is disturbed. This information becomes crucial when it is realised that PCL has been found throughout much of the ptohd environment, even in mcasuub.c amounts (0.06 parts j>cr million) in mother's milk samples in California. Lnviromnemal scientists arc becoming increasingly concerned about any chemicals which can persist in the en vironment ;nu! he accumulated along f*od cliiiins. How do they get into f;>e environment and what long term toxic hazard do thev present even in very 11 HONS 033761 i PCWJws Iwcn found livers, fat and eggs o! birds, particu* or his whole family, inc.tiling i. five lit: jrreurial predators such as spar* month l baby, Jensen looked for throughout much of the global row hawks and kestrels, and in marine PCB in eagle feathers in a museam and environment, even in feeders like guillemots and kittiwakes. only found it in specimens caught after mensurable amounts in mother's milk samples in California. T hey were also found in fresh water fish. Small amounts were detected in human fat samples, though in much smaller proportions than in the birds. 1944. This is probably indicative of how long PCB has been an environ mental contaminant. A little later, tjtc British workers. Holmes, Simmons and In 1966 workers in Scotland found the TaUon, announced that the previously mimuc clows? In many ways PCB re* same compounds in fish and seals in unidentified compounds a&'ociatcd hcmhlci DDT und related organo- Scottish waters, the lewis were low in with analyses for organochlorine in chlorine insecticides. They arc both fat* the fish, whereas in the seals tlsey cor secticides were PCB. Their findings soluble, persistent and able to induce responded to the larger levels found in were repeated In the Netherlands and liver microsomul enzymes. They are birds. North America and soon PCB was fairly close chemical relatives and their The solution to the mystery of the found to be distributed throughout liv ocoloyicul properties are literally inter* identity of the compounds was pro ing creatures in the Northern Hemi woven. vided by a Swedish scientist, Soren sphere. History of PCB pollution Jensen. At the end of 1966, the New Scientist reported, that Jensen had More PCB in industrial areas The trugic posUwur decline of certain found PCB in pike, and also in the hair Riseborough and his American col- species of birds of prey and sea birds in many parts of the world is now well known. The story of the discovery of Monsanto takes a big stepPCD pollution is intimately related to X ' the unravelling of the mystery of this1 decline. The chemicals implicated in the of the pollution does not exist ! In flic late 1950s, Derek RatclifTe of massive slaughter of seabirds in the PCB manufacture stage. : the Nature Conservancy sounded the off the north-west coast last The only place in Britain where t first warnings about the mysterious dc* * cline of the British peregrine popula tion. When other birds of prey were * similarly studied it was found that (he golden eagle was declining in Western Scotland. Much circumstantial evi- autumn may soon be the subject of a voluntary ban. Monsanto Chemicals, one of the principal manufacturers of the industrial chemicals PCBs are produced--under the market name of Arachlor 1254 --is at Monsanto's Newport, Monmouthshire plant. But the production process is dry and dance pointed to organochlorine in* polychlorinated biphenyls--;, no PCB waste goes down the . socticido residues as the guilty agent and appropriate changes in the use of those compounds prevented a complete disaster. RatclifTe also noted bchav* ioural changes m the peregrine, birds known as PCBs--is trying SO get other manufacturers to limit the application of the product. Monsanto want PCBs plant's pipeline into the Bristol Channel. Monsanto will have to work hard to get co-operation, if 1 t eating their eggs, increased incidence to be confined to closed-system only because rival * of broken eggs. He also showed that the thickness of egg shells had tie* t creased during the period since the ' > introduction of organochlorine insect! , cides. This was the first evidence that *' the resulting widespread change in the * chemical environment had In sbme way uses, like its application in electrical insulations. This would mean a ban on the use of PCBs in paints and . varnishes and coatings. It is this second type of manufacturers are of different nationality. But the value of a voluntary ban is highlighted ' by the recent disclosure of the Government Chemist. In his annual report, he reveals i * affected the calcium metabolism of the usage that causes the pollution. that the highest ever `.y birds. .: These events initiated routine anal* \ ' yses of wiid-iifc cadavers in Britain. ; It was during iheso analyses for orgtno* , ! chlorine pesticide residues that several Factory waste pipes leak PCBs while manufacturing or using paints and surface coatings. The chemicals are carried in concentration of PCBs has been found in wildlife by his laboratory. The Chemist gives the results of an analysis of ! ` workers noticed the presence of strange diluent into the sea where it is PCB levels in herons. Levels > ' organochlerirw compounds which they I could not identify. These unidentified ? compounds were so similar to DDT . etc., that they actually interfered with DDT meaiuremenu causing a certain amount of confusion. The unknown ' compounds occurred most frequently believed that unusual weather conditions can cause local concentrations. The amount of PCBs in these concentrations is still very low, but it can be lethal. , more than twice the previously recorded "highs" in seabirds were found. This is very disturbing, given the effects . of PCBs on calcium metabolism. and In the largest proportions in the Without a doubt the source . .. Jeremy Bugler MQNS 033762 ittijuu. * a unumm.1 -- mt ?Cl> yksossos jrc-.u clumiCait stability a.K is therefore _ highly pcrsisicm once it escapes into the environment. Xl is likely that a steady build-up is occurring. league* have reported that the highest levels of J*CB arc found in wild life front industrialised areas. In the few land birds and fresh water species ex amined by American scientists PCB was found, and it is quite likely that the compound is now distributed in the continental ecosystems of the United Suites. Ivxoctly how PCB gets into wild life is not yet known, for unlike organochlorino insecticides. PCB is not de liberately sprayed into ecosystems. There arc however several possibilities. The fact that PCB residues arc gener ally highest in creatures living near to industrial areas, leads us to suspect that PCB might escape from the fac tories manufacturing or using it. It could be rcleuscd in effluent or PCBcontaining hydraulic oils into the rivers, eventually reaching the sea. Another potential PCI* source is air pollution. It has been suggested that transport by air currents explains the presence of PCB in remote regions like Alaska. As far as we know no one has recorded and measured the presence of PCB in the air. It might escape into the atmos phere during its manufacture at a point when high temperatures are reached. Alternatively, the burning of waste containing PCB may lead to Atmos- >hc.iw pollution. T.u Ministry of Homi ng .td Local Goicmmcnt has suned i /cscarch project to examine the sources of PCB pollution which will no doubt throw more light on this prob lem. long (erm effects? PCB possesses great chemical stability and is therefore highly persistent once U escapes into the environment. It is likely that a steady build-up is occur ring. Small amounts of PCB have been shown experimentally to have sub* lethal physiological effects on birds, and small amounts are now found in people. Will they have any long term toxic effect? Nobody knows, but do we have to wait? The best move might be to suspend further use of PCB in industrial processes until one has estab lished its effects on ecosystems and human health. Such firm action would also act as a spur to industry to work more seriously in the future on the ecological implications of their action. '*ahc alinoM iuvidvi (j1 lu.m; n v-luc. ,, B pollution was tlix, ci\ red Joes no; give us great con.klencc in it: prc>;r.i|* . environmental monitoring cflort. Wild-' life populations are a> someone once 1 said "our miner's canary", but only / . very rarely is there t.tc necessary in-in formation about population dynamics '*, (o say with any accuracy whether a(}', particular population is behaving in a /, peculiar fashion. It is neccssaty to fin-1' ancc, on a world scale, studies of a jr / carefully selected range of species ro \j ! that we can biologically monitor ei.- V,' vironmcntul changes. Any change ir / the numbers, behaviour or chemical r composition of an indicator population 1 ; would be noted and its cause searched , for. It is a priority task, and the scale , of activity in such monitoring ought at ' least to bo tied to the increasing rate r of. industrial activity. The cos: of such a "doomwatch" activity may be high, j but if it helps mankind to avoid large | scale ecological disasters, it is a price j that has to be paid. ` SYSTEMATICS | Journal of the Institute for the Comparative Study of j History, Philosophy and the Sciences | Editors J. G. Bennbtt and Kuju. S. Sevumn { Vol. VIII No. 3 December, 1970. MIND AND MATTER J. G. Bennett j titw S\>thttt,)n, rtgi'it ,t.\ ik it lumlnuU' ill /oolo^s, ,iihI Inis it iUvp interest jit oeolopy unit it,\ puliiieal implications. Ik lectures in the Department of Liberal Studies in Science. Manchester University on the social relations of science and technology. In 1971 his book on Industrial Society and Pollu tion will be published by Hurl-Davit in UK and Bobbs-Merill in USA. Till! AMBIGUITY OF 'ONE' AND `TWO' IN THE DESCRIPTION OF YOUNG'S EXPERIMENT II. Bortoft WILL TYPE INVESTIGATION G. H. Edwards IDEA DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT IN ENGINEERING E. Matchctt 1 I i j J: John NoUlc, aged 22, graduated from the Liberal Studies in Science Depart ment lust year (1970). There he read 'Science Oreals'* nn honours course iksiH'KHi to develop 'Viontilic tfoneriiltu", 14 Thu Journal is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. Siil'tscription rates arc 13s. ml. (52.00) per copy or 2. 10k. Od. ($7.50) per annum. Subscriptions, contributions or correspondence to; The Editors, Systematic*. 23 Brunswick Rond, Kingston-upon-Thumc*, Surrey, England. HONS 033763 \ * ` r