Polychlorinated biphenyls history

This book examines comprehensively the chlorine industry and its effects on the environment. It covers not only the history of chlorine production, but also looks at its products, their effects on the global environment and the international legislation which controls their use, release and disposal. Individual chapters are dedicated to subjects such as end use processes, water disinfection and metallurgy, environmental release of organic chlorine compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, legal instruments and the future of the chlorine industry. 

I. Romieu et al., Breast Cancer, Lactation History, and Serum Organochlorines, Am. J. Epidemiol. 152 (2000) 565-70 R. Millikan et al., Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, and Breast Cancer Among African-American and White Women in North Carolina, Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers. Prev. 9 (2000) 1255-40 S. D. Stellman et al., Breast Cancer Risk in Relation to Adipose Concentrations of Organochlorine Pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Long Island, New York, Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers. Prev. 9 (2000) 1241-49 T. Zheng et al., Risk of Female Breast Cancer Associated with Serum Polychlorinated Biphenyls and l,l-dichloro-2,2 -bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene, Cancer Epidemiol. Bio-... 

A Michigan daily farmer, who had a history of health complaints after 1976, developed malignant cancer of the esophageal and stomach wall in 1986 the man subsequently died in 1988 (Sherman 1991). Samples of adipose tissue, collected in 1976 and 1987, revealed PBB concentrations of 0.83 and 0.85 ppm, respectively. Also detected in the fat tissue collected in 1987 were polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) at 3.57 ppm and chlordane residues at concentrations ranging from 0.018 to 0.039 ppm. 

The concerns aroused by methylmercury in fish, arising from the susceptibility of the developing brain to this neurotoxicant, led to the design and execution of two large prospective studies. One was located in the Seychelle islands, which lie in the Indian Ocean. The other was located in the Faroe Islands, which lie in the North Sea. Both communities consume large quantities of seafood. In the Seychelles, it is almost exclusively in the form of fish. In the Faroes, virtually all the methylmercury comes from the consumption of pilot whales, which are also contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Both studies assayed maternal exposures to methylmercury. In the Seychelles, maternal hair was used as the index it reflects the history of blood levels. The Faroes study relied primarily on cord blood. 

These chemicals are considered in a pollution category because both deliberate and accidental release to the environment of several of these types of compounds, for example the industrial chemicals such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and the chlorinated pesticides p,p DDT (dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane formal chemical name l,l -(2,2,2-trichloroethylidene)-bis (4-chlorobenzene)), have had unintended adverse environmental effects on diverse plants and animals and on people. Initially, chemicals such as PCBs and DDT were beneficial to human civilization PCBs as industrial chemicals allowing economical, safe delivery of electricity, and DDT as a pesticide eradicating vector pests of human health concern and agricultural crop pests. Only after these chemicals had entered widespread use did it become apparent that there were environmental problems, although in hindsight there was evidence of potential problems early in the history of their manufacture and use. 

Contamination History of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the 20 Century... 

The EPA issued a Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Penalty Policy (PCB Penalty Policy) that follows the basic format and approach of the TSCA Civil Penalty Policy, which the EPA published in 1980. The PCB Penalty Policy categorizes all violations according to their nature, extent, and circumstances in order to determine a gravity based penalty. Then the gravity based penalty is adjusted upwards for factors such as prior history of violations, and downwards for factors such as cooperation with EPA and prompt self-reporting. 

In its broadest sense, environmental chemistry might be considered to include the chemistry of everything outside of the synthetic chemist s flask The moment that a chemical substance is released to the environment, its physico-chemical properties may have an enormous impact on ecological systems, including humans. Researchers have identified 51 synthetic chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system. Hormone disrupters include some of the 209 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and some of the 75 dioxins and 135 furans that have a myriad of documented effects (1). The latter half of the twentieth century has witnessed more synthetic chemical production than any other period in world history. Between 1940 and 1982, the production of synthetic chemicals increased about 350 times. Billions of pounds of synthetic materials were released into the environment during this period. United States production of carbon-based synthetic chemicals topped 435 billion pounds in 1992 or 1600 pounds per capita (2). 

Given the relatively well-known history of production and release of many persistent environmental contaminants, the contaminants themselves often ean serve as a useful historical marker. Figure 10.9 shows arecord ofU.S. polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) sales and a corresponding dated profile of PCB in Lake Ontario sediments (Schwarzenbach et al., 1993). Similar to the radioisotope methods deseribed above, the similarity of the PCB manufacturing history and depositional profiles provides evidence of a long-term, stable deposition of solids-associated PCB with minimal mixing of surficial sediments. 

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