Aquatic biota polychlorinated biphenyls

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) ai e toxic compounds of anthropogenous origin, able to accumulate in tissues of alive organisms and to cause different diseases. These compounds ai e the most dangerous for aquatic ecosystems as they easily adsorb in sludge and ai e included in food chains of biota. Humans consume PCBs and OCPs mostly with fish. 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were manufactured by catalytic chlorination of biphenyl to produce complex mixtures, each containing 60-90 different PCB molecular species or congeners (see Chaps. 1 and 4). In the United States, PCB mixtures were manufactured by Monsanto under the trade name Aroclor and were widely used as dielectric fluids in capacitors and transformers from 1929 to 1978. PCBs are widespread contaminants of aquatic sediments and continue to be a focus of environmental concern because they tend to accumulate in biota and are potentially toxic. The following sections show the most effective bioremediation techniques applied to various PCB contaminated environments ... 

Wong, C.S. Garrison, A.W. Smith, PD. Foreman, W.T., Enantiomeric composition of chiral polychlorinated biphenyl atropisomers in aquatic and riparian biota Environ. Sci. Technol. 2001, 35, 2448-2454. 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were produced from 1930 to 1983 in the form of complex mixtures for a variety of uses (e.g. dielectric fluids in transformers and capacitors, and plasticizers in paint and rubber sealants). Because of their physical and chemical stability, and also of their lipophilic affinity, they are highly persistent and tend to accumulate in sediments and biota in the aquatic environment [253]. 

Polychlorinated biphenyls Toxicity, aquatic biota, wildlife... 

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