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1 vote
Which statement about PCBs is false?

A. They are found at highest concentrations in Inuit women who eat herbivorous caribou.
B. They originate from industrial and agricultural production.
C. They cause a variety of health ailments in humans.
D. They can remain in the environment for long periods of time.

User Drummad
by
3.8k points

2 Answers

5 votes

Final answer:

The false statement about PCBs is that they are found at highest concentrations in Inuit women who eat herbivorous caribou. PCBs tend to bioaccumulate and biomagnify in apex predators, not herbivores. So the correct option is A.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement about PCBs that is false is: A. They are found at highest concentrations in Inuit women who eat herbivorous caribou. This statement is incorrect because PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, bioaccumulate and biomagnify in food chains, meaning that they are found in higher concentrations in apex predators rather than in herbivorous animals. PCBs are industrial and agricultural pollutants that originate from human activities, such as the production of coolant liquids and can cause a variety of health ailments in humans. They are known to persist in the environment for very long periods and accumulate in higher trophic levels of the food chain, thus reaching high concentrations in predatory fish and the animals, including humans, that eat these fish.

There have been numerous studies on this topic, including research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron, which showed that the apex consumer, the walleye, had more than four times the amount of PCBs compared to phytoplankton at the base of the food chain. Birds that eat these fish may have even higher levels. Therefore, populations such as the Inuit, who rely on higher trophic level marine predators, would be more at risk.

User Derek Litz
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3.2k points
3 votes

Option (B) is Right Answer

Step-by-step explanation:

(B) They originate from industrial and agricultural production.

  • PCBs in humans have discovered expanded paces of melanomas, liver cancer, gall bladder cancer, biliary tract malignant growth, gastrointestinal tract disease, and mind malignancy, and might be connected to bosom disease
  • PCBs are known to cause an assortment of sorts of malignant growth in rodents, mice
  • The most usually watched wellbeing impacts in individuals presented to a lot of PCBs are skin conditions, for example, skin break out and rashes
  • PCB exposures in everybody are not liable to bring about skin and liver impacts
User Darsh Shah
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4.0k points