Polychlorinated biphenyls storage

Burse VW, Kimbrough RD, Villanueva EC, et al. 1974. Polychlorinated biphenyls Storage, distribution, excretion, and recovery Liver morphology after prolonged dietary ingestion. Arch Environ Health 29 301-307. 

The important influence that sample container materials can have on seawater sample composition is illustrated next by two examples one concerning the storage of metal solutions in glass and plastic bottles, the other concerning the storage of solutions of phthalic acid esters and polychlorinated biphenyls in glass and plastic. 

Losses of Phthalic Acid Esters and Polychlorinated Biphenyls from Seawater Samples During Storage... 

At a salvage yard in Anchorage, Alaska, the cost of treating 250 kg of lead- and polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil was 22,000. At a underground storage tank site at the Boston Central Arterial, 10 kg of soil contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbon was treated at a cost of 45 per ton (D10328W, pp. 8-16). 

Sullivan, K.F., Atlas, E.L., Giam, C.S. (1981) Loss of phthalic acid esters and polychlorinated biphenyls from seawater samples during storage. Anal. Chem. 53, 1718-1719. 

EPA. 1979b. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) manufacturing, processing, distribution in commerce, and use prohibitions. Subpart D Storage and disposal. Disposal Requirements. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR 761.60. 

Curley A, Burse VW, Grim ME, et al. 1971. Polychlorinated biphenyls Distribution and storage in body fluids and tissues of Sherman rats. Environ Res 4 481-495. 

FDA. 1998a. U. S. Food and Drug Administration. Use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB s) in the production, handling, and storage of animal feed. Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 500.45. 

One class of compounds does deserve special attention—those chemicals that are very fat soluble. These include the older chlorinated pesticides, such as DDT, and some environmental contaminants, such as the PCBs (the polychlorinated biphenyls) and dioxins. In these cases, low levels of intact chemicals, if absorbed, may encounter the body s final defense mechanism. This defense is to store the compounds in fat and milk, a paradoxical strategy that the body uses to sequester away chemicals into a storage site (or depot) where they can do no harm to the rest of the body, ft s conceptually the prison system of the body. The absorption and distribution into fat greatly reduces the concentration of chemicals at other body sites and thus serves to blunt the impact of the exposure. Similarly, this simple method of diluting the absorbed chemical often keeps the concentration below an effect level and gives the overworked liver time to try to destroy them. 

Even though polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are no longer imported into Canada or manufactured in many parts of the globe, large quantities are stiU being used in transformers or kept in storage facilities for future disposal. First developed and synthesized in 1881 and introduced commercially in 1929, PCBs were manufaetured in response to the North American electrical industry s urgent need for a more stable and effeetive transformer and eapacitor fluid. Unfortunately, their chemical and physical stability have also led to widespread and persistent environmental contamination. As a result, the further import and use of PCBs were banned in Canada in 1977. 

Toxicants that are ingested generally are absorbed through the small intestine walls and are transported to the liver. The liver is the main site of toxicant metabolism and is where some poisonous substances are converted to less toxic forms more readily eliminated from the body whereas other substances are converted to toxic species. Toxic species are distributed around the body by the blood and lymph system, which can lead to systemic poisoning at sites remote from the entry of the substance into the body. Bone and adipose tissue (fat) are major sites of storage of toxicants. Bone accumulates heavy metals including lead and some radioactive materials, especially strontium-90, which biochemically behaves like calcium. Radioactive iodine accumulates in the thyroid and can cause thyroid cancer. Lipophilic toxicants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), that are poorly soluble in water tend to accumulate in adipose tissue. 

Because of very high toxicity, ability of delayed action and high stability in the environment, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD), dibenzofurans (PCDF) and biphenyls (PCB) are particularly hazardous for people s health if misused for committing acts of terrorism, or under the circumstances of violating the rules of toxic wastes safe storage. 

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