Man-made toxic chemicals are found 7 miles below the Pacific
As our knowledge of the chemicals we use in our products grows, so does our understanding of how it affects the environment and the wildlife that’s a part of it. For years now we’ve known that toxic chemicals in products can now be found in the very fish that we pull from the ocean to eat, but there’s no way we could have anticipated our use of toxins would reach this far. A new study found “high levels of toxic chemicals” in small crustaceans 7 miles below the Pacific Ocean in the Mariana Trench. Previously, scientists measured the toxin levels in animals found in up to 2,000 meters of water. The newest study stretched the measurement depth to between 7,000 and 10,000 meters. Scientists “found traces of PCBs and PBDEs, groups of chemicals which take years to break down and some of which are known to be carcinogenic.” The most surprising and worry part of the study may be that “levels of toxic PCBs were higher in the deep sea creatures than they were in the most polluted rivers in China.” The study has led researchers to one conclusion: the garbage we discard into our ocean sinks, until it can’t sink any further, and then it begins to accumulate.
To learn more about the recent study on chemicals found in the Mariana Trench, follow the link: http://dailym.ai/28W0rVk