PCBs
Brief Background and Use [2]
Why is it a problem? [2, 3]
Potential Human Health Effects [3]
How are Humans Exposed? [3]
Sources of Exposure Today [3]

Man-made, chlorinated industrial chemicals

Oily liquids or solids…colorless to light yellow, no smell or taste

Heat resistent so used in coolants and lubricants in electrical transformers and other electrical equipment [2]

used as weatherproofers and as a pesticide additive used to prolong residual activity

still found in municipal and industrial incinerators from burning of organic wastes [2]

Do not break down easily in environment

Can cycle between air, water, and soil

Can be carried long distances in air and are found all over the world

Bioaccumulant in fish and things that eat fish

EPA says PCBs are leading chemical risk from fish consumption

Endocrine receptors

Current Status in US [3]

Manufacture and new use prohibited in 1978 (TSCA)

Regulated as a hazardous air pollutant (CAA)

Prioity toxic pollutant (CWA)

 

PCBs[1]

probable human carcinogen

damages stomach

causes skin irriatation

liver/kidney damage

thyroid gland injuries

 

Eating contaminated fish and shellfish

Eating milk, meat, and by-products

Infants exposed from breast milk, or through mother's bloodstream in the womb

Breathing in air in building with PCB electrical equipment

poorly maintained hazardous waste sites

illegal/improper dumping of PCB wastes - transformer fluids

leak/releases from electrical transformers

improper disposal

old microscope oil and hydraulic fluids

old tv's, refrigerators, lighting fixtures, electrical devices, appliances made before 1977

sediments in lakes, river or ocean

[1] UNEP - Persistent Organic Pollutants: Chemical Information. - www.chem.unep.ch/pops/alts02.html

[2] EPA - Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response. EPA 160-F-02-001. - www.epa.gov/international/toxics/pop.htm

[3] EPA Priority PBT Profiles - www.epa.gov/opptintr/pbt/cheminfo.htm

[4] ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Aldrin and Dieldrin. September 2002. - www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tpw.html

used for a variety of industrial processes and purposes, including in electrical transformers and capacitors, as heat exchange fluids, as paint additives, in carbonless copy paper, and in plastics

unintentionally produced during combustion [3]