Soil Contamination from PCB-Containing Buildings

Abstract

BackgroundPolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in construction materials, such as caulking used around windows and expansion joints, may constitute a source of PCB contamination in the building interiors and in surrounding soil. Several studies of soil contamination have been conducted around buildings where the caulking has been removed by grinding or scraping. The PCBs in soil may have been generated in the process of removing the caulking, but natural weathering and deterioration of the caulking may have also been a source.ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to measure PCB levels in soil surrounding buildings where PCB-containing caulk was still in place, and to evaluate the mobility of the PCBs from caulking using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method 1311).DiscussionWe found soil PCB contamination ranging from 3.3 to 34 mg/kg around buildings with undisturbed caulking that contained 10,000–36,200 mg/kg PCBs. The results of the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (leachate concentrations of 76–288 mg PCB/L) suggest that PCBs in caulking can be mobilized, apparently as complexes with dissolved organic matter that also leach off the caulking material.Conclusions and RecommendationsAlthough these new findings are based on a small sample size, they demonstrate the need for a national survey of PCBs in building materials and in soil surrounding these buildings. Because the buildings constructed during the time the PCB caulking was in use (1960s and 1970s) include schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings, the potential for exposure of children is a particular concern. It is necessary to reconsider the practice of disposing of old PCB caulking removed during building renovations in conventional landfills, given the apparent mobility of PCBs from the caulking material. Disposal of some caulking material in nonhazardous landfills might lead to high PCB levels in landfill leachate.

Dioxin-like compounds in agricultural soils near e-waste recycling sites from Taizhou area, China: Chemical and bioanalytical characterization

“…The levels were comparable to those found at a site for dismantling PCBcontaining equipment in Taizhou (Zhao et al, 2006b), and at the open-burning site in Guiyu (Wong et al, 2007b). However, they were lower than those detected at some heavily polluted sites (Priha et al, 2005;Herrick et al, 2007;Turrio-Baldassarri et al, 2007). The greatest total concentrations of PCBs were observed at locations 5, 6 and 9 (65-100 ng/g dw), all of which were relatively near to the e-waste recycling sites when compared to other locations.…”

DFT-Based Prediction of Bioconcentration Factors of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Fish Species Using Atomic Descriptors

“…The best twelve models for k = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (eqns. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] (12) The regression summary of these equations has also been presented in Table- ' and lowest value of 's' among the rest equations. All the descriptors of this model have positive coefficient values indicating that these have direct relationship with the bioconcentration factors, except Q 1 and Q 6' , which have a negative coefficient values indicating that these have inverse relationship with bioconcentration factors.…”

“…Prediction of bioconcentration factors (BCFs) [1][2][3][4] of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) [5], a group of persistent organic pollutants [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] by QSAR modeling [19] using molecular descriptors were made time to time to increase the probability of success and reduce the time and cost in exploring the toxicological and ecological characteristics of molecules [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. In this work, for the first time, we have used atomic descriptors: partial atom charges and HOMO densities [36] at various sites of polychlorinated biphenyls to predict their bioconcentration factors.…”

Levels and potential health hazards of PCBs in shallow groundwater of an e-waste recycling area, China

“…Due to technology and financial constraints, a large proportion of waste PCB products were not disposed of properly in China. PCBs can be released from commercial PCB products via waste emissions, oil leakage, volatilization, dry and wet deposition, etc., which are the potential primary sources of PCBs in the environment (Herrick et al 2007). …”