Polychlorinated biphenyls bioaccumulation

Wirth EF, Chandler GT, Dipinto LM, et al. 1994. Assay of polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation from sediments by marine benthic copepods using a novel microextraction technique. Environ Sci Technol 28 1609-1614. 

Norstrom, R.J. (1988). Bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls in Canadian wildlife. In J.-P. Crine (Ed.) Hazards, Decontamination and Replacement of PCBs. New York Plenum, Press. 

There is a vast range of aqueous organic pollutants with a wide toxicity profile. Some, e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls, certain herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, and organo-mercury compounds, are persistent and may bioaccumulate in the food chain. Trace contaminants such as sodium chloride, iron and phenols (especially if chlorinated) may also impart a taste to water. Typical consent levels for industrial discharges are provided in Table 13.10. 

Heavy metals may also be concentrated in passage up the food chain. Other pollutants, e.g. fungicides, pesticides, biocides, polychlorinated biphenyls or organic mercury compounds, are persistent and can therefore also bioaccumulate. 

UV filters are currently considered as emerging environmental contaminants of increasing concern since most of the commonly used are known to cause endocrine disrupting effects in both aquatic and terrestrial organisms as well as in human skin cells [4]. These compounds bioaccumulate in fish at similar levels to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT [5, 6]. 

Froese, K.L., D.A. Verbrugge, G.T. Ankley, G.J. Niemi, C.P. Larsen, and J.P. Giesy. 1998. Bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls from sediments to aquatic insects and tree swallow eggs and nestlings in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, USA. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 17 484 492. 

Nakata, H., S. Tanabe, R. Tatsukawa, M. Amano, N. Miyazaki, and E.A. Petrov. 1997. Bioaccumulation profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls including coplanar congeners and possible toxicological implications in Baikal seal (Phoca sibirica). Environ. Pollut. 95 57-65. 

Van der Oost, R., H. Heida, and A. Opperhuizen. 1988. Polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in sediments, plankton, mollusks, crustaceans, and eel in a freshwater lake implications of using reference chemicals and indicator organisms in bioaccumulation studies. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 17 721-729. 

The water insoluble, highly chemically and thermally stable PCBs used as insulating fluids for transformers and capacitors, in paints, copy paper, etc., are extremely toxic, persistent in the environment and bioaccumulating. PCBs are currently destroyed by incineration of concentrates at high temperatures or chemically with sodium metals or organosodium. Both processes are costly. The cathodic reduction/elimination of the chlorine from polychlorinated biphenyl... 

Gilek, M. Bjork, M. NaF, C. 1996, Influence of body size on the uptake, depuration, and bioaccumulation of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners by Baltic Sea blue mussels, Mvtilus edulis. Mar. Biol. 125 499-510. 

Schneider, R. 1982, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in cod tissues from the Western Baltic Significance of equilibrium partitioning and Upid composition in the bioaccumulation of lipophilic pollutants in gill-breathing animals. Meeresforschung 29 69—79. 

No observed adverse effect level Polychlorinated biphenyls - used as cooling agent in transformers because of low flammability. Now banned because of their environmental persistence and bioaccumulation in fat of many species including whales and humans... 

The polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, coplanar biphenyls) have been used in a large variety of applications as dielectric and heat transfer fluids, lubricating oils, plasticizers, wax extenders, and flame retardants. Their industrial use and manufacture in the USA were terminated by 1977. Unfortunately, PCBs persist in the environment. The products used commercially were actually mixtures of PCB isomers and homologs containing 12-68% chlorine. These chemicals are highly stable and highly lipophilic, poorly metabolized, and very resistant to environmental degradation they bioaccumulate in food chains. Food is the major source of PCB residues in humans. 

Similar considerations are relevant for other airborne, persistent, bioaccumulating pollutants, primarily polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Naturally occurring toxins - mycotoxins... 

Berglund, O., P. Larsson, G. Ewald, and L. Ohla, Bioaccumulation and differential partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls in freshwater, planktonic food webs , Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 57, 1160-1168 (2000). 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been known for sometime as persistent pollutants, which can be readily bioaccumulated through the food chain causing well-documented toxic effects in number of species including humans [191]. Consequently, PCBs are commonly routinely monitored as potential industrial pollutants. Due to their environmental persistence and toxicity, detection limits in the ng ml-1 region are generally required. Consequently, such work has generally required solvent or solid extraction and concentration steps prior to separation by GC in conjunction with electron capture detection, or mass... 

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