Evidence for Unique and Ubiquitous Environmental Sources of 3,3′-Dichlorobiphenyl (PCB 11)

Abstract

The non-Aroclor congener 3,3'-dichlorobiphenyl (PCB 11) has been recently detected in air, water, biota, sediment, and suspended sediment. Although it has been known since at least the 1970s that this congener is produced inadvertently during the production of diarylide yellow pigments, this work presents the first evidence that the use of these pigments in consumer goods results in the dispersion of PCB 11 throughout the environment at levels that are problematic in terms of achieving water quality standards for the sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In this work, PCB 11 is measured at ppb levels in consumer goods that are likely to be discarded in ways that allow them to enter wastewater treatment plants and combined sewer overflows, including newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes used for food packaging, and plastic bags. Also, using data sets acquired for the purpose of calculating total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for PCBs, PCB 11 loads to the New York/New Jersey Harbor and Delaware River are calculated. Despite the fact that there are no known manufacturers of diarylide yellow pigments in the Delaware River watershed, the loads of PCB 11 to the Delaware River exceed the TMDL for the sum of PCBs by nearly a factor of 2. The ratio of PCB 11 to a characteristic dechlorination end product, PCB 4 (2,2'-dichlorobiphenyl), in these data sets indicates that dechlorination is not a significant source of PCB 11 in these systems. In the upper Hudson River, where extensive dechlorination of heavy PCB congeners occurs, the ratio is just 0.012. In contrast, downstream in the NY/NJ Harbor as well as in the Delaware River the ratio is much higher and more variable. Pigment use therefore appears to be the main source of PCB 11 in these systems, and this congener is likely to present a significant obstacle to achieving PCB water quality standards throughout the United States.

PBDEs, PCBs and PCDD/Fs in the sediments from seven major river basins in China: Occurrence, congener profile and spatial tendency

“…The spatial distribution suggested a higher level of CB-11 in Pearl River areas, while no significant differences were observed among the other river basins (p > 0.05, one-way ANOVA). Rodenburg et al (2010) employed the ratio of CB-11 to CB-4 to investigate the primary source of CB-11, if the ratio was less than 1, CB-11 was probably raised from dechlorination of higher-chlorinated PCBs. In the present study, the ratios between CB-11 and total di-CBs were calculated, which were more than 0.5 except for S12.…”

Characteristic accumulation and soil penetration of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in wastewater irrigated farmlands

“…Although CB-209 is considered not to be particularly toxic (Han et al, 2009), the presence of high levels of CB-209 should be cautioned since it may eventually be degraded to more toxic lower chlorinated congeners in the environment. For CB-11, recent studies suggest that it is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, and sources such as degradation of higher chlorinated congeners and release from municipal solid waste incineration plants have been proposed (Rodenburg et al, 2010). Due to its high vapor pressure, it should mainly exist in the ambient environment in gasphase.…”

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in an urban riparian zone affected by wastewater treatment plant effluent and the transfer to terrestrial compartment by invertebrates

“…Nevertheless, PCB-11 was found at high concentrations in WWTPs in the New York city area (Litten et al, 2002) and even served as a tracer for wastewater effluents (Rodenburg et al, 2011). Rodenburg et al (2010) found that PCB-11 was mainly associated with pigment manufacturing. Due to its relatively high volatility, PCB-11 has been prevalently found in Chicago air (Hu et al, 2008) and was even detected at relative high abundance in environmental samples from the Antarctica (P. Wang et al, 2012).…”