Sources of Exposure

 

• Using old fluorescent lighting fixtures and electrical devices and appliances, such as television sets and refrigerators that were made 30 or more years ago. These items may leak small amounts of PCBs into the air when they get hot during operation, and could be a source of skin exposure.

• Eating contaminated food. The main dietary sources of PCBs are fish (especially sportfish caught in contaminated lakes or rivers), meat, and dairy products.

• Breathing air near hazardous waste sites and drinking contaminated well water.

• In the workplace during repair and maintenance of PCB transformers; accidents, fires or spills involving transformers, fluorescent lights, and other old electrical devices; and disposal of PCB materials.
   

Effects on Health
The most commonly observed health effects in people exposed to large amounts of PCBs are skin conditions such as “Chloracne” and rashes. Studies in exposed workers have shown changes in blood and urine that may indicate liver damage. PCB exposures in the general population are not likely to result in skin and liver effects. Most of the studies of health effects of PCBs in the general population examined children of mothers who were exposed to PCBs.
 

Animals that ate food containing large amounts of PCBs for short periods of time had mild liver damage and some died. Animals that ate smaller amounts of PCBs in food over several weeks or months developed various kinds of health effects, including anemia; acne-like skin conditions; and liver, stomach, and thyroid gland injuries. Other effects of PCBs in animals include changes in the immune system, behavioral alterations, and impaired reproduction. PCBs are not known to cause birth defects. Few studies of workers indicate that PCBs were associated with certain kinds of cancer in humans, such as cancer of the liver and biliary tract.
PCBs are classified as a chemical which is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
 

Effects on Children
Women who were exposed to relatively high levels of PCBs in the workplace or ate large amounts of fish contaminated with PCBs had babies that weighed slightly less than babies from women who did not have these exposures. Babies born to women who ate PCB-contaminated fish also showed abnormal responses in tests of infant behavior. Some of these behaviors, such as problems with motor skills and a decrease in short-term memory, lasted for several years. Other studies suggest that the immune system was affected in children born to and nursed by mothers exposed to increased levels of PCBs. There are no reports of structural birth defects caused by exposure to PCBs or of health effects of PCBs in older children. The most likely way infants will be exposed to PCBs is from breast milk. Transplacental transfers of PCBs were also reported In most cases, the benefits of breast-feeding outweigh any risks from exposure to PCBs in mother's milk.
 

Recommendations
Tests exist to measure levels of PCBs in your blood, body fat, and breast milk, but these are not routinely conducted. The EPA has set a limit of 0.0005 milligrams of PCBs per liter of drinking water (0.0005 mg/L). Discharges, spills or accidental releases of 1 pound or more of PCBs into the environment must be reported to the EPA. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that infant foods, eggs, milk and other dairy products, fish and shellfish, poultry and red meat contain no more than 0.2-3 parts of PCBs per million parts (0.2-3 ppm) of food. Many states have established fish and wildlife consumption advisories for PCBs.
 

* Compiled by Elizabeth Limbrick of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities program.  Source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 2000.