Waste 2 Resources > PBT Initiative

What are Persistent, Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBTs)?

Persistent, bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) are a distinct group of chemicals that threaten the health of people and the environment. Examples of PBTs include methylmercury, PCBs, DDT and dioxin. These types of toxic chemicals raise special challenges for our society and the environment because:

• They are durable and remain in the environment for a long time without breaking down (persistent).
• Animals and people accumulate PBTs in their bodies, primarily from the food they eat. As these chemicals move up the food chain, they increase in concentration, and linger for generations in people and the environment (bioaccumulate).
• Exposure to PBTs has been linked to a wide range of toxic effects in fish, wildlife, and humans, including effects on the nervous system, reproductive and developmental problems, immune-response suppression, cancer, and endocrine disruption (toxic).
• PBTs can travel long distances and generally move easily between air, water and land.

Some PBTs have been banned for more than 30 years, but their presence remains in land and water across the globe. For example, good cleanup technologies don’t yet exist for addressing PCB contamination in sediments and water. In Puget Sound, for example, the PCBs in sediment build-up in Orca whales and other marine life. Another example is DDT, which is still found in Washington soils more than 30 years after the pesticide DDT was banned by EPA.

The goal of Ecology's PBT initiative is to reduce and phase-out the use, release, and exposure to PBTs in Washington.