| tart --> | | | | PCBs can still be (and are) released to the |
| PCB's are a major threat to world health yet their | | | | environment from normal or hazardous waste sites; |
| hardly dicsussed in terms of major world problems. | | | | from the illegal or improper disposal of industrial wastes |
| Lets look at the facts | | | | and consumer products. PCBs commonly enter the |
| PCB - or PolyChlorinated Biphenyls was a great step | | | | environment by the improper burning of old electrical |
| forward for industrial chemistry. They were widely | | | | transformers containing PCBs in municipal incinerators |
| marketed in the 1930s onward and have been used as | | | | Perhaps the worst form of entering the environment is |
| coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and | | | | from illegal dumping. In countries like Greece, the Army, |
| other electrical equipment because they don't burn | | | | Navy and even the Public Power Corporation would |
| easily and are good insulators. | | | | dismantle the old transformers and dump the PCBs |
| Products made before 1977 (in the United States and | | | | into the sea, or shallow pits in desolate areas. How |
| Europe) that may contain PCBs include old fluorescent | | | | many other countries have been also guilty of this |
| lighting fixtures and electrical devices containing PCB | | | | activity? |
| capacitors, and old microscope and hydraulic oils. The | | | | There Goes the Sushi! |
| manufacture of PCBs was stopped in the US in 1977 | | | | PCBs once into the environment will bind strongly to |
| because of massive evidence that PCBs build up in | | | | soil. PCBs exposed to the air can also travel long |
| the environment and can cause harmful health effects. | | | | distances and be deposited in areas far away from |
| The truth is that PCBs are extremely stable in the | | | | the pollution site (polluters seem to know this |
| environment and do not biodegrade. They are a | | | | phenomenon). |
| pollutant without equal. | | | | If dumped in the water, only small amounts of PCBs |
| PCBs were used because of their special qualities, | | | | may become dissolved. The rest usually bind to |
| such as:o low vapor pressureo EXTREME stability, | | | | organic particles and bottom sediments. As a natural |
| non-biodegradabilityo high boiling point: 278 to 415 Co | | | | process then, the PCBs are ingested by small |
| low solubility in water: 20 C, 15 ppbo good solubility in | | | | organisms and fish in water. They are naturally then |
| many organic solvents and in lubricantso good thermal | | | | ingested by other animals that eat these smaller |
| conductiono high dielectric constanto high-temperature | | | | animals as food. |
| resistance | | | | Its is an established fact that PCBs accumulate in fish |
| However, as an environmental pollutant it is unequalled, | | | | and marine mammals tissue, and reach levels that may |
| and it accumulates in animal tissue with resultant | | | | be many thousands of times higher than in water. A |
| pathogenic and teratogenic effects. It is unquestionably | | | | test on any fish caught in the wild (or farmed for that |
| carcinogenic, and under certain conditions converts to | | | | matter) will show levels of PCBs now, and is proof of |
| dioxin, a highly toxic poison. | | | | contamination of the sea. |
| PCBs were used (and are still used) as coolants and | | | | What Does PCB do to you? |
| lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other | | | | Due perhaps to its wide negative political effect, PCB |
| electrical equipment because they don't burn easily and | | | | damage is not as studied or reported as it should be. |
| are good insulators. But the transformers (you can see | | | | Dioxin (which PCB can revert to) is a highly toxic and |
| transformers on electrical transmissions poles, or at | | | | poisonous chemical damaging the liver and easily |
| any generating or electrical transmission location), will | | | | causing death. |
| "leak" after a time, and the PCBs make their way into | | | | There are many studies which show that PBCs cause |
| the environment. But not only. | | | | cancer, birth defects, and other debilitating illnesses. |
| PCBs will enter the air, water, and soil during their | | | | Damage to the liver is a given effect. |
| manufacture, use, and disposal. They can enter the | | | | It is in your food chain and cooking will not purge it |
| environment from accidental spills during the | | | | from the food. It is in vegetables and fish, meat and |
| transformers servicing or their transport. | | | | chicken. |