Social Entrepreneur
Revitalizing Toxic Waterways and Cities ecoSPEARS
is Disrupting an Industry with NASA Environmental Technology By Elyssa Coultas Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are chemicals commonly found in electrical appliances, flame retardants, paint, caulk, building materials and insulation. These chemicals lurk in the sediments of waterways, slowly making their way up the food chain in a process known as biomagnification, threatening the health of the world’s seafood supplies. 54 | JUNE 2019 | i4Biz.com
Developed in 1929, PCBs were later found to be cancercausing contaminants. In 2001, the Stockholm Convention signed by more than 190 nations agreed to eliminate PCBs by 2028. As of 2018, less than 5% of the PCBs ever manufactured had been removed from the environment. PCBs were banned in the United States in 1979, but they remain in the environment until removed because they do not degrade naturally. A study done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2014 found that 94% of the fish sampled in U.S. waterways carried PCB contamination. To eradicate these deadly toxins without harm to the environment, a team of NASA engineers designed a Sorbent Polymer Extraction and Remediation System (SPEARS) technology that absorbs PCBs “like a sponge” from the sediment layers of waterways. The devices, shaped like hollow tubes with pointed ends, remove and trap the toxins inside their interior walls. After the site is deemed clean by regulators, the SPEARS are then removed from the water body for safe disposal. The work is important because PCBs can enter the body through the lungs, the gastrointestinal tract and the skin. These chemicals are circulated in the blood and stored in fatty tissues and organs, including the liver, kidneys, lungs, adrenal glands, brain, heart and skin, eventually causing or contributing to cancers, brain disorders, birth defects and even death. The
