Bold warning: everyday electronics are quietly seeping into the brains of endangered dolphins and porpoises. New findings show liquid crystal monomers (LCMs)—the key chemicals that make laptop, TV, and smartphone screens work—are not just lingering in our environment; they’re accumulating in marine mammals’ tissues, including blubber, muscle, and even brain, and they appear capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier.
Lead author Yuhe He of City University of Hong Kong explains the significance: “LCMs from common devices aren’t merely pollutants—they’re building up in the brains of endangered cetaceans.” The study calls this a wake-up call: the very chemicals that power our screens are entering ocean life, underscoring the urgency of better e-waste management to protect ocean health and, by extension, ourselves.
LCMs govern how light travels through screens, delivering the crisp images consumers expect. Because these substances are widespread, they’ve turned up not only in indoor air and dust but also in wastewater, eventually reaching coastal zones. Past research has linked certain LCMs to health risks for both humans and some aquatic species. However, less is known about how these pollutants move through marine food webs and whether top predators accumulate them. To explore this, Bo Liang, Yuhe He, and colleagues studied tissue samples from Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises collected between 2007 and 2021 in the South China Sea, a crucial habitat for these threatened animals.
In their investigation, the team screened samples from dolphin and porpoise blubber, muscle, liver, kidney, and brain for 62 different LCMs. Their key observations include:
- Four compounds dominated the detections. These same LCMs have been found in the fish and invertebrates that these marine mammals consume, supporting the idea that exposure occurs through diet rather than direct water uptake.
- Most LCMs in these mammals likely originate from television and computer screens, with smartphones contributing to a smaller share.
- While the highest concentrations appeared in blubber, the team also detected smaller amounts in other organs, including the brain, pointing to potential health risks such as neurotoxicity.
- LCM levels in porpoise blubber tracked with LCD screen adoption: rising during LCD expansion and falling more recently as manufacturers shift toward LED technology.
Lab experiments added context: several common LCMs, including the four dominant ones, altered gene expression in cultured dolphin cells—affecting pathways tied to DNA repair and cell division. This hints at possible adverse effects on marine mammals and reinforces the need for more research into LCM pollution. The researchers therefore advocate for closer examination of ecological and health impacts, stronger regulatory measures, and improved strategies for handling e-waste.
Funding for the work came from multiple sources, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, various ecology and conservation funds, and several regional science and technology bodies in China and Hong Kong.
Reference: Tao D, Li C, Sun Y, et al. Liquid crystal monomers released from lcd displays accumulate in endangered marine cetaceans triggering health concerns. Environ Sci Technol. 2026:acs.est.5c17767. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5c17767
This article is republished from a press release by ACS Publications; edits may have been made for length and clarity. For more details, see the original sources cited here.
