Banned persistent pollutant still threatens half of killer whales

The survival of over half of the world’s killer whales hangs in the balance because of a highly persistent and toxic class of chemicals. Despite a near total ban on the production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) 30 years ago these carcinogenic and reproductive toxins continue to persist in the environment.

New research modelling the effects of PCBs on these top marine predators over the next 100 years has revealed that many populations are likely to go into decline – and some may even collapse completely in certain areas.¹