DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Dolphins swimming in Dominican waters may well be suffering the consequence of thousands of e-waste trashed into the oceans. Almost every Dominican older than 16 years old has a cell phone, tablet or laptop. Almost every household as a TV. The mishandling of e-waste in garbage dumps is barely being tackled.

New research published in Environmental Science & Technology has identified a disturbing global trend in South China Sea waters that likewise could be the same in the Caribbean. Liquid Crystal Monomers (LCMs), the chemical components that make screens on smartphones, TVs, and laptops function, are accumulating in the tissues of endangered dolphins and porpoises.

Scientists from the City University of Hong Kong analyzed Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises from the South China Sea. They discovered that these persistent pollutants are not just present in the animals’ blubber...