PCBS

The Issue
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a type of synthetic chemicals that were manufactured for use in various industrial and commercial applications - including oil in electrical and hydraulic equipment, and plasticizers in paints, plastics and rubber products - because of their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulation properties. PCBs are familiar to most people through their trade names (e.g., Aroclor).   Although their production in the US was banned by the 1979 Toxic Substances Control Act, PCBs may be present in products and materials produced before the ban and can be released into the environment from poorly maintained hazardous waste sites that contain PCBs; illegal or improper dumping of PCB wastes; leaks or releases from electrical transformers containing PCBs; and disposal of PCB-containing consumer products into municipal or other landfills not designed to handle hazardous waste.
Once in the environment, PCBs do not readily break down and therefore cycle for long periods of time between air, water, and soil.  PCBs can be transported far from where they were released so are now found all over the world.   PCBs have been demonstrated to cause cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system.

EPA Action
EPA's first assessment of PCB carcinogenicity was completed in 1987. In 1996, at the direction of Congress, EPA completed a reassessment of PCB carcinogenicity, titled "PCBs:  Cancer Dose-Response Assessment and Application to Environmental Mixtures" (1996). This assessment was reviewed by 15 experts on PCBs, including scientists from government, academia and industry.  The peer reviewers agreed with EPA's conclusion that PCBs are probable human carcinogens.

Related Links

• EPA’s PCB Web Site
• Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• EPA’s Region 10’s Web site about PCBs in the Pacific Northwest
• IRIS Health Assessment for PCB and Aroclor

Best Resources

U.S. EPA. Pilot Survey of Levels of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-P-Dioxins (PCDDs), Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans (PCDFs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) and Mercury in Rural Soils of the U.S. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-05/043F, 2007.

Winters, D., S. Anderson, M. Lorber, J. Ferrario, AND C. Byrne. Trends in Dioxin and PCB Concentrations in Meat Samples from Several Decades of the 20th Century. , Organohalogen Compounds 38:75-78, (1998).

Korrick, S. A. AND L. Altshul. High Breast Milk Levels of Polychlorinatede Biphenyls (PCBS) Among Four Women Living Adjacent to a PCB-Contaminated Waste Site. , ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 106(8):513-518, (1998).

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Additional Resources

Vater, S. T., S. F. Velazquez, AND J. Cogliano. A Case Study of Cancer Data Set Combinations for PCBs. , Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology v.22(1):2-10, (1995).

Lorber, M., D. Winters, J. Griggs, R. Cook, S. Baker, J. Ferrario, C. Byrne, A. Dupuy, AND J. Schaum. A National Survey of Dioxin-Like Compounds in the U.S. Milk Supply. , Organohalogen Compounds 38:125-129, (1998).

Winters, D., D. Cleverly, K. Meier, A. Dupuy, C. Byrne, C. Deyrup, R. Ellis, J. Ferrario, R. Harless, W. Leese, M. Lorber, D. McDaniel, J. Schaum, AND J. Walcott. A Statistical Survey of Dioxin-Like Compounds in U.S. Beef. ,.

Lorber, M., P. Saunders, J. Ferrario, W. Leese, D. Winters, D. Cleverly, J. Schaum, C. Deyrup, R. Ellis, J. Walcott, A. Dupuy, C. Byrne, AND D. McDaniel. A Statistical Survey of Dioxin-Like Compounds in U.S. Pork Fat. Organohalogen Compounds 32:238-244, (1997).

Ferrario, J., C. Byrne, M. Lorber, P. Saunders, W. Leese, A. Dupuy, D. Winters, D. Cleverly, J. Schaum, P. Pinsky, C. Deyrup, R. Ellis, AND J. Walcott. A Statistical Survey of Dioxin-Like Compounds in U.S. Poultry Fat. , Organohalogen Compounds 32:245-251, (1997).

Lorber, M., G. Fries, D. Winters, J. Ferrario, AND C. Byrne. A Study of the Mass Balance of Dioxins and Furans in Lactating Cows in Background Conditions. , Organohalogen Compounds 46:236-239 and 534-537, (2000).

Cleverly, D., M. Monetti, L. Phillips, P. Cramer, M. Hait, S. McCarthy, K. O'Rourke, J. Stanley, AND D. Winters. A Time-Trends Study of the Occurrences and Levels of CDDs, CDFs and Dioxin-Like PCBs in Sediment Cores from 11 Geographically Distributed Lakes in the U.S. , Organohalogen Compounds 28:77-82, (1996).

U.S. EPA. Ambient Air Sampling for Dioxins, Furans and Coplanar PCBs in An Urban Industrialized Corridor in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana..

U.S. EPA. Analyses of Laboratory and Field Studies of Reproductive Toxicity in Birds Exposed to Dioxin-Like Compounds for Use in Ecological Risk Assessment. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-03/114F.

Ferrario, J., R. Lovell, P. Gardner, M. Lorber, D. Winters, AND C. Byrne. Analysis of Animal-and Plant-Derived Feed Ingredients for Dioxin-Like Compounds. , Organohalogen Compounds 57:85-88, (2002).

U.S. EPA. Atmospheric Measurements of CDDs, CDFs, and Coplanar PCBs in Rural and Remote Locations of the U.S. in the Year 2001 from the National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN). ,.

Byrne, C., J. Ferrario, D. Cleverly, D. Winters, AND A. Dupuy. Average Method Blank Quantities of Dioxin-Like Congeners and Their Relationship to the Detection Limits of the U.S. EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN). Organohalogen Compounds 59:411-413, (2002).

Ferrario, J., C. Byrne, AND A. Dupuy. Background Contamination By Coplanar Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS) in Trace Level High Resolution Gas Chromatography/High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) Analytical Procedures. , Chemosphere 34:2451-2465, (1997).

Hwang, S., J. Falco, AND C. Nauman. Development of Advisory Levels for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS) Cleanup. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/6-86/002 (NTIS PB86232774).

U.S. EPA. Dioxin Exposure Initiative Publications..

Lorber, M., V. Feil, D. Winters, AND J. Ferrario. Distribution of Dioxins, Furans, and Coplanar PCBs in Different Fat Matrices in Cattle. Organohalogen Compounds 32:337-344, (1997).

Goetchius, P., D. Gray, M. Remington, D. Tullis, AND M. Neal. Drinking Water Criteria Document for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS) (Final Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/X-84/198-1 (NTIS PB86118312).

U.S. EPA. Evaluation of Dioxin in U.S. Cow's Milk. ,.

U.S. EPA. Framework for Application of the Toxicity Equivalence Methodology for Polychlorinated Dioxins, Furans and Biphenyls in Ecological Risk Assessment (External Review Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, 630/P-03/002A, 2003.

U.S. EPA. Framework for the Application of the Toxicity Equivalence Methodology for Polychlorinated Dioxins, Furans, and PCBs in Ecological Risk Assessment..

U.S. EPA. Framework for Application of the Toxicity Equivalence Methodology for Polychlorinated Dioxins, Furans, and Biphenyls in Ecological Risk Assessment. 2008.

U.S. EPA. Health Assessment Document for Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans. Review Draft. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/8-86/018A (NTIS PB86221256).

U.S. EPA. Health Effects Assessment for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBS). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/540/1-86/004 (NTIS PB86134152).

U.S. EPA. National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

U.S. EPA. PCBs: Cancer Dose-Response Assessment and Application to Environmental Mixtures (1996). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Washington Office, Washington, DC, EPA/600/P-96/001F, 1996.

Cogliano, J. PCBs: Cancer Dose-Response Assessment and Application to Environmental Mixtures (External Review Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/P-96/001A (NTIS PB96140603), 1996.

PCDD/F TEQ Indicators and Their Mechanistic Implications..

Schrock, M., M. Armbruster, K. Riggs, J. Tabor, A. Doherty, AND M. Lorber. Simultaneous Determination of PCDD/PCDF and Dioxin-Like PCBs in Edible Vegetable Oils. Organohalogen Compounds 27:386-390, (1996).

U.S. EPA. The Foundation for Global Action on Persistent Organic Pollutants: A U.S. Perspective. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center For Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park Office, Research Triangle Park, NC, EPA/600/P-01/003F, 2002.

Cleverly, D., D. Winters, J. Ferrario, J. Schaum, K. Riggs, P. Hartford, D. Joseph, T. Wisbith, A. Dupuy, AND C. Byrne. The National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN): Measurements of CDDs, CDFs and Coplanar PCBs at 15 Rural and 6 National Park Areas of the U.S.: June 1998-December 1999. , Organohalogen Compounds 51:1-4, (2001).

Cleverly, D., D. Winters, J. Ferrario, K. Riggs, P. Hartford, D. Joseph, T. Wisbith, A. Dupuy, AND C. Byrne. The National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network (NDAMN): Measurements of CDDs, CDFs, and Coplanar PCBs at 18 Rural, 8 National Parks, and 2 Suburban Areas of the U.S.: Results for the Year 2000. , Organohalogen Compounds 56:437-450, (2002).

Ferrario, J., C. Byrne, D. Cleverly, D. Winters, A. Dupuy, AND J. Schaum. U.S. EPA's National Dioxin Air Monitoring Network: Analytical Issues. , Organohalogen Compounds 50:35-39, (2001).

U.S. EPA. Workshop Report on Developmental Neurotoxic Effects Associated with Exposure to PCBs. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, EPA/630/R-92/004, 1993.

U.S. EPA. Workshop Report on the Application of 2,3,7,8-TCDD Toxicity Equivalence Factors to Fish and Wildlife. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, EPA/630/R-01/002, 2001.