United States
                       Environmental Protection
                       Agency
                      Office of Pesticides and
                      Toxic Substances TS-793
                      Washington D C 20460
June 1980
OPA 59/0
xvEPA
Toxics  Information
Series
  What are PCB's?
  Why are PCB's a
  Problem?
 PCB's

 Polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly called PCB's, were manufactured
 in the  United States  from 1929 until  1977.  Production of these
 industrial chemicals,  by law, is no longer allowed in the United
 States,  because they  are now known to be  hazardous to health and
 the environment.  But  many of the hundreds of millions of pounds of
 the PCB's once widely  used are still  abroad in the land.  This
 information bulletin  explains the hazards of PCB's and what the
 U.S.  Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA) is doing to help safe-
 guard public health from the risks of PCB's.

 PCB's are part of the  broad family of organic chemicals known as
 chlorinated hydrocarbons.  PCB's range in consistency from heavy
 oily  liquids, weighing 10-12 pounds per gallon, to waxy solids.
 These synthetic chemicals have a high boiling point, a high
 degree of chemical  stability, low solubility in water, high
 solubility in fat,  low flammability,  and  low electrical conductivity
 --ideal  properties  for many commercial  uses.  PCB's were and
 continue to be used primarily as cooling  liquids in electrical
 transformers and capacitors.  Most of the PCB's marketed in the
 United States are still in service in those types of products,
 PCB's have also been  used as heat transfer and hydraulic fluids;
 as dye carriers in  carbonless copy paper; in paints, adhesiyes,
 and caulking compounds; and as sealants and road coverings to
 control  dust.

 PCB's are a problem because they are  hazardous to health at
 extremely low levels.   Among the most stable chemicals known,
 PCB's decompose very  slowly over a period of several decades once
 they  are released into the environment.   They remain in the
 environment and are taken  up and  stored in the fatty tissue  of
 all organisms.   The concentration of  PCB's in fatty tissue in-
 creases  with time even though the exposure levels to PCB's are
 very  low.  In technical language, this  process is called bio-
 accumulation.  Another problem,  to use  another technical  term,
 is biomagnification--PCB's build up in  the food chain.   As living
 organisms containing PCB's are eaten  by other organisms, the
 amount of PCB's consumed by each higher organism increases.
 The concentrations  consumed by humans,  at the end of the food
 chain, can thus be  significant.

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                          PCB's can  enter the body through the  lungs, the gastrointestinal
                          tract, and the skin.   Once  ingested,  inhaled,  or absorbed into
                          the body,  PCB's are circulated throughout the  body in  the blood
                          and are  stored in  fatty tissue and several organs, including
                          the liver, kidneys, lungs,  adrenal glands, brain, heart,  and
                          skin.  Once in the  body, PCB's can wreak havoc.

                          In well  documented  tests on  laboratory animals,  it has  been
                          shown that PCB's can  cause  reproductive failures, birth  de-
                          fects, gastric disorders, skin lesions, swollen  limbs,  cancers,
                          tumors,  and eye and liver disorders,  among other health  problems.

                          The dangers of toxic PCB's  were dramatically and tragically brought
                          home  to  the world  in 1968,  when some  1,300 people in  Yusho, Japan,
                          used  rice oil that had been accidently contaminated with PCB's
                          leaking  from a heat exchanger.  The victims developed a variety
                          of ailments characterized as "Yusho Disease" -- skin  lesions,
                          eye discharges, abdominal pain, menstrual  irregularity, fatigue,
                          cough, disorders of the nervous system, hyperpiqmentation of  the
                          skin,  nails and mucous membranes.  And although precise figures
                          are not  yet available, there is evidence  that  there was an
                          increased rate of  cancer among the Yusho  victims who  have died
                          since  1968.  As a  result of the Yusho tragedy, the Japanese govern-
                          ment  virtually banned the production, import or export of PCB's
                          in 1972.

                          PCB contamination  has also  taken  its  toll  in the United States.
                          Measurable amounts  of PCB's can be found  in soils, water, fish,
                          milk,  and human tissue.  Some fish in the  Hudson River, the
                          Great  Lakes and other water bodies are too contaminated with
                          PCB's  for human consumption.   In  addition, there have been  PCB
                          accidents:  PCB's  were found in fishmeal  used  as feed in North
                          Carolina as a result of a leaking heat exchanger.  In Puerto
                          Rico,  fishmeal was  contaminated with  PCB's when fire  broke out
                          in a warehouse also containing stored electrical transformers.
                          And in Billings, Montana, PCB's leaking from a transformer at a
                          packing  company contaminated .animal feed  that  was later distri-
                          buted  and used in  several states.

                                In  brief, PCB's can and have caused  human suffering, environ-
                          mental damage, the destruction of thousands of farm animals as
                          well  as  large quantities of contaminated  food  and feed, and -•
                          economic problems  for companies involved  in PCB accidents.
Region 1

Connecticut. Maine.
Massachusetts. New
Hampshire. Rhode Island,
Vermont

EPA
Mr Robert Dangel
Toxic Substances Coordinator
John F Kennedy Federal
  Building
Boston. MA 02203
(617) 223-0585

FDA
Mr A J Beebe
Regional Director
585 Commercial Street
Boston, MA 02109
1617)223-1278
Region 2

New Jersey, New York, Virgin
Islands, Puerto Rico

EPA
Mr Ralph Larsen
PCB Coordinator
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10007
(212) 264-1925

FDA
Mr Caesar A Roy
Regional Director
830 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
(212) 965-5416
Region 3

Delaware. Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia.
West Virginia, District of
Columbia

EPA
Mr Charles Sapp
Toxic Substances Coordinator
Curtis Building (3AH20)
6th & Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215)597-4058

FDA
Mr R J Davis
Regional Director
2nd and Chestnut Street
Room 900
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215)597-4390
Region 4

Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee

EPA
Mr Ralph Jennings
Toxic Substances Coordmatoi
345 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404)881-3864

FDA
Mr M D Km slow
Regional Director
880 W Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 881-4266
Region 5

Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

EPA
Mr Karl Bremer
Toxic Substances Coordinator
230 South Dearborn Street,
  Room 1 165
Chicago, IL 60604
(312)353-2291

FDA
Mr L R Claiborne
Regional Director
175 W Jackson Boulevard
Room A-1945
Chicago, IL 60604
(312)353-1047

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What's the Govern-
ment Doing About the
PCB Health Hazard?
      Until  1976, EPA  could only  regulate  discharges  of PCB's  into
      waterways from plants that  manufactured, processed, or  used the
      PCB's.   In 1976,  in response to growing evidence of the  dangers
      of PCB's  and other toxic materials.  Congress enacted the Toxic
      Substances Control  Act  (TSCA) and directed EPA  to regulate   all
      chemicals that present  "an  unreasonable risk of injury  to  health
      or the  environment."
                                For the  first time, that  law gave the  government the authority
                          to  require that potentially toxic chemical  substances be tested
                          for safety before they  are manufactured and put on  the market.
                          Under TSCA, the public  and the environment  can no longer be
                          used as unwitting guinea pigs for potentially lethal  chemical
                          compounds.  If  testing  shows that a  chemical  does indeed pose an
                          unreasonable  risk to health or the environment, EPA can limit the
                          handling, use,  or shipment of a  chemical  and,  if
                                      can  ban the  manufacture, processing, and  use of the
                                      Because of the known  dangers of  PCB's, TSCA contains
      necessary
      chemical.
                          a special section prohibiting the  manufacture,  processing, dis-
                          tribution and  use of PCB's, except totally  enclosed  use, and
                          requiring adequate labeling and  safe disposal  of PCB's  still
                          in  use.
                                EPA has  taken the  following  actions to  carry out  its congress-
                          ional  mandate to protect the public from PCB's:  On  Feb.  17, 1978,
                          EPA  issued regulations  establishing requirements for marking and
                          disposal of  PCB's.  On  May 31, 1979, EPA issued regulations pro-
                          hibiting the  manufacture of PCB's  after July 1, 1979,  unless
                          specifically  exempted by EPA; prohibiting  the processing, dis-
                          tribution and use of PCB's except  in sealed  systems, after
                          July  1,  1979;  and prohibiting all  processing and distribution
                          of PCB's after July 1,  1979, unless specifically exempted by EPA.

                                EPA's May 31, 1979 regulations required that PCB's may now
                          be used  only  in products such as  totally enclosed electrical
                          equipment.   In normal use in those products, there is  no  human or
                          environmental  exposure  to PCB's.
                                TSCA allows some exceptions  to the regulation if  there is
                          no unreasonable risk of danger to  health or  the environment.  EPA
                          has  allowed  a few additional uses  of PCB's until July  1,  1984,
                          with  appropriate health and environmental  safeguards.
Region 6

Arkansas, Louisiana, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

EPA
Mr John West
PCB Coordinator
First International Building
1201 Elm Street
Dallas, TX 75270
(214) 767-2734

FDA
Mr PB  White
Regional Director
3032 Bryan Street
"Dallas, TX 75204
i14i 749-2735
Region 7

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri,
Nebraska

EPA
Mr Wolfgang Brandner
Toxic Substances Coordinator
324 East 11 Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816)374-6538

FDA
Mr Clifford G Shane
109 Cherry Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
S816) 374-5646
Region 8

Colorado, Montana, North
Dakota, South Dakota. Utah,
Wyoming

EPA
Mr Dean Gillam
Toxic Substances Coordinator
1860 Lincoln Street
Denver, CO 80295
(303) 837-3926

FDA
Mr FL Lofsvold
Regional Director
721 19th Street
US Customhouse Room 500
Denver CO 80202
!303) 837-4915
Region 9

Arizona, California, Hawaii.
Nevada. American Samoa,
Guam, Trust Territories of the
Pacific. Wake Island

EPA
Mr Gerald Gavin
PCB Coordinator
215 Fremont Street
San Francisco CA 94105
|415) 556-4606

"DA
Mr IB Berch
Regional Director
JN Plaza
redaral Office Building
Room -326
San Francisco CA 94102
1415  556-2062
Region 10

Alaska. Idaho. Oregon.
Washington

EPA
Dr Jim Evens
Toxic Substances Coordinator
1200 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)442-5560

FDA
Mr J W Swamon
Regional Director
909 1st Avenue
Room 50O3
Seattle WA 98174

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                            Most of the PCB's still in use are in sealed electrical
                       equipment which will be replaced over the next few years as the
                       equipment is overhauled or retired.  EPA has established strict
                       regulations for the final disposal of PCB's in environmentally-
                       safe incinerators or chemical waste landfills.
                            Other government agencies are also involved in regulating
                       PCB's:  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued re-
                       gulations establishing limits on the amount of PCB's allowed in
                       foods and feeds; products exceeding the safe limits may not be sold
                       in interstate commerce.  FDA has also prohibited the use of PCB's
                       in food and feed processing plants except in sealed transformers
                       and capacitors.  And FDA, EPA and the U.S. Department of Agricul-
                       ture are considering banning the use of all PCB's in any and
                       all electrical equipment in food and feed-related industries.
                            In sum,
                       regulated.
             the use of PCB's  is  now prohibited or strictly
Want More Infor-
mation?
Additional  information on EPA's regulation of PCB's is available
from EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.  the toll-free number
is (800) 424-9065; in the Washington area, the number is
554-1404 — or from the EPA or FDA regional  offices listed
inside.
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                         United States              Reg.o.^ 5                 Illinois  ndiara
                         Environmental D'otec: o^      Of':ce of =ut)l'C Affairs        M.c^igar, M rreso;a
                         Agency                  230 South Dearborn Street     Ohio Wisconsin
                                               Chicago Illinois 60604
&EPA           FACT
                         SHEET
POLYCHLQE^NAI'ED BIFHENYLS (PCB'S)
           JULY 1989
           WHAT ARE PCB'S?

           Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's)  are part of a broad family of organic
           chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons.  PCB's were first introduced
           into cormercial use 45 years ago and are of concern because of their wide
           dispersal and persistence in the environment and their tendency to accumulate
           in the higher levels of the food chain, including man.

           PCB's range  in consistency from heavy oily liquids, weighing 10-12 pounds per
           gallon, to waxy solids.  These synthetic chemicals have a high boiling point,
           a high degree of chemical stability, low solubility in water, high solubility
           in fat, low  flanmability, and low electrical conductivity—ideal properties
           for many commercial uses.  PCB's were and continue to be used primarily as
           cooling liquids in electrical transformers and capacitors.  Most of the PCB's
           marketed in  the United States are still in service in those types of
           products.  PCB's have also been used as heat transfer and hydraulic fluids;
           as dye carriers in carbonless copy paper; in paints, adhesives, and caulking
           compounds; and as sealants and road  coverings to control dust.


           Most of these uses have, or are being phased out as a result of the 1979 ban
           on PCB manufacturing, processing,  distribution, and use.  Even though PCB's
           are restricted or strictly regulated, the compounds are still found in old
           transformers, capacitors, and other  products.

           HEALTH CONCERNS

           PCB's are a  problem because they are hazardous to health at extremely low
           levels.   Among the most stable chemicals known, PCB's decompose very slowly
           over a period of several decades.  Once released, PCB's remain in the
           environment  and are taken up and are stored in the fatty tissue of all
           organisms.   The concentration of PCB's in fatty tissue increases with tijne
           even thou^i  the exposure levels to PCB's are very low.   In technical
           language, this process is called bioaccutnulation.  Another problem is
           biomagnification—PCB build-up in the food chain.  As living organisms
           containing PCB's are eaten by other  organisms, the amount consumed by each
           higher organism increases.   The concentrations consumed by humans at the end
           of the food  chain, can thus be significant.

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                                     -2-

Documented -ests shew that exposure to high levels of PCB's can cause gastric
disorders, skin lesions, and liver cancer in laboratory animals.  On this
basis, it is a listed probable human carcinogen.  Persons having a high risk
of exposure are PCB workers and those eating large amounts of fish,
especially those caught from the Great Lakes.  The general population is not
subject to any significant increase in health risk due to exposure to
background levels of PCB's in the environment.

GROUND WATER MBILITY AND PCB'S

PCB's are extremely urniorjile in ground water relative to other potential
environmental contaminants for several reasons.  First, the solubility of
PCB's in water is very low.  Second, measurements indicate that the tendency
of PCB's to be associated with organic matter and clays in soil is very
great.  The combination of these properties of PCB's results in their very
low mobility with respect to ground water flow.  Retardation factors, which
express the rate at which a particular chemical would travel relative to
ground water, can be calculated given the amount of organic matter in the
soil and the carbon/water partition coefficient (Koc) for the chemical being
considered.

As a comparison, the herbicide 2,4-D and organic solvent acetone have
retardation factors of 2.6 and 1.0, respectively.   This indicates that
acetone travels at the same rate as ground water,  and 2,4-D travels 2.6
times slower.  The retardation factor for PCB's ranges from 600 to 3,000.
This shows that the tendency of PCB's to absorb onto soil/organic matter
versus ground water is so overwhelming that the movement of PCB's would take
place at a rate that is up to 3,000 times slower than that of ground water.

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