“…the highest concentration of PCBs exist in the people on an island about as isolated and pristine as you can get.
“Broughton Island is west of Greenland, near Baffin Island, thousands of miles away from sources of pollution. The islanders live by hunting and fishing. Broughton Island became written about in popular magazines, and people on neighbouring islands began to talk about Broughton Islanders as the PCB people, as though they had a deadly disease. Marriage to them was discouraged. Worried that Broughton Island was getting bad press, the islanders, in a masterpiece of PR, changed its name to Qikiqtarjuaq - which the press could neither remember nor pronounce.”
From an awesom book I’m reading in my hotel room in Dublin, The Meaning of the 21st Century by James Martin. I highly recommend it!
Entries (RSS)