Now a recent series of studies has begun to discuss the whereabouts of all the world's PCBs. Sixty-five percent of them are still in use in electrical equipment that will be getting old and ready for replacement during the '90s, or are in landfills. Twenty percent have already reached the oceans. Eighty-five percent of the world's PCBs are held within developed countries, fifteen percent exist in developing countries. PCBs have a broad range of unpleasant effects.
Cells are the tiny bags of fluid of which every living thing is built.
For example, a typical human is constructed of 50 trillion cells. Chemicals that can pass through the walls of cells can cause all sorts of mischief, and PCBs are no exception. PCBs also cause birth defects in humans and animals. Because PCBs can become airborne when they are released into the environment, they have spread everywhere on earth. As a matter of law, the Ontario government allows only 1 ppt of PCBs to be discharged into the environment, but it has been difficult to get a court injunction against rainfall.