Electrical waste at sea

martes 25 de mayo de 2021 - 12:26 GMT+0000

An INNOCEANA volunteer collects a pipe of electrical wiring found in an underwater cleanup on the beach of Las Teresitas. Some electrical and electronic materials used as insulating liquids contain toxic products called polychlorinated bisphenyls or PCBs. These are organochlorine chemical compounds used for their thermal stability and their resistance to flammability. They were banned as of 1986 due to their adverse effects on health (very toxic and carcinogenic), although their persistence in the environment, and especially in the marine environment, makes orcas (Orcinus orca) the mammals with the highest concentration of this pollutant in the body.

Photo by Liam McGuire.