Polychlorinated biphenyl


Polychlorinated biphenyls are organochlorine compounds with the formula C12H10−xClx. They were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectric and coolant fluids for electrical equipment. They are highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer electronic products, whose production was banned internationally by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.
Because of their longevity, PCBs are still widely in use, even though their manufacture has declined drastically since the 1960s, when a multitude of problems were identified. With the discovery of PCBs' environmental toxicity, and classification as persistent organic pollutants, their production was banned for most uses by United States federal law on January 1, 1978.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer rendered PCBs as definite carcinogens in humans. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs cause cancer in animals and are probable human carcinogens. Moreover, because of their use as a coolant in electric transformers, PCBs still persist in built environments.
Some PCBs share a structural similarity and toxic mode of action with dioxins. Other toxic effects such as endocrine disruption and neurotoxicity are known. The bromine analogues of PCBs are polybrominated biphenyls, which have analogous applications and environmental concerns.
An estimated 1.2 million tons have been produced globally. Though the US EPA enforced the federal ban as of 1978, PCBs continued to create health problems in later years through their continued presence in soil and sediment, and from products which were made before 1979. In 1988, Japanese scientists Tanabe et al. estimated 370,000 tons were in the environment globally, and 780,000 tons were present in products, landfills, and dumps or kept in storage.

Physical and chemical properties

Physical properties

The compounds are pale-yellow viscous liquids. They are hydrophobic, with low water solubilities: 0.0027–0.42 ng/L for Aroclors brand, but they have high solubilities in most organic solvents, oils, and fats. They have low vapor pressures at room temperature. They have dielectric constants of 2.5–2.7, very high thermal conductivity, and high flash points.
The density is 1.44 g/cm3 at 30 degrees Celsius. Other physical and chemical properties vary widely across the class. As the degree of chlorination increases, melting point and lipophilicity increase, and vapour pressure and water solubility decrease.
PCBs do not easily break down or degrade, which made them attractive for industries. PCB mixtures are resistant to acids, bases, oxidation, hydrolysis, and temperature change. They can generate extremely toxic dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans through partial oxidation. Intentional degradation as a treatment of unwanted PCBs generally requires high heat or catalysis.
PCBs readily penetrate skin, PVC, and latex. PCB-resistant materials include Viton, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polytetrafluoroethylene, butyl rubber, nitrile rubber, and Neoprene.

Structure and toxicity

PCBs are derived from biphenyl, which has the formula C12H10, sometimes written 2. In PCBs, some of the hydrogen atoms in biphenyl are replaced by chlorine atoms. There are 209 different chemical compounds in which one to ten chlorine atoms can replace hydrogen atoms. PCBs are typically used as mixtures of compounds and are given the single identifying CAS number. About 130 different individual PCBs are found in commercial PCB products.
Toxic effects vary depending on the specific PCB. In terms of their structure and toxicity, PCBs fall into two distinct categories, referred to as coplanar or non-ortho-substituted arene substitution patterns and noncoplanar or ortho-substituted congeners.
;Coplanar or non-ortho
;Noncoplanar
Di-ortho-substituted, non-coplanar PCBs interfere with intracellular signal transduction dependent on calcium which may lead to neurotoxicity. ortho-PCBs can disrupt thyroid hormone transport by binding to transthyretin.

Mixtures and trade names

Commercial PCB mixtures were marketed under the following names:
Brazil
  • Ascarel
Czech Republic and Slovakia
  • Delor
France
  • Phenoclor
  • Pyralène
Germany
  • Clophen
Italy
  • Apirolio
  • Fenclor
Japan
  • Kanechlor
  • Santotherm
  • Pyroclor
Former USSR
  • Sovol
  • Sovtol
United Kingdom
  • Aroclor xxxx
  • Askarel
United States
  • Aroclor xxxx
  • Asbestol
  • Askarel
  • Bakola131
  • Chlorextol – Allis-Chalmers trade name
  • Dykanol
  • Hydol
  • Inerteen
  • Noflamol
  • Pyranol/Pyrenol, Clorinol
  • Saf-T-Kuhl
  • Therminol FR Series.

    Aroclor mixtures

The only North American producer, Monsanto Company, marketed PCBs under the trade name Aroclor from 1930 to 1977. These were sold under trade names followed by a four-digit number. In general, the first two digits refer to the product series as designated by Monsanto ; the second two numbers indicate the percentage of chlorine by mass in the mixture. Thus, Aroclor 1260 is a 1200 series product and contains 60% chlorine by mass. It is a myth that the first two digits referred to the number of carbon atoms; the number of carbon atoms do not change in PCBs. The 1100 series was a crude PCB material which was distilled to create the 1200 series PCB product.
The exception to the naming system is Aroclor 1016 which was produced by distilling 1242 to remove the highly chlorinated congeners to make a more biodegradable product. "1016" was given to this product during Monsanto's research stage for tracking purposes but the name stuck after it was commercialized.
Different Aroclors were used at different times and for different applications. In electrical equipment manufacturing in the US, Aroclor 1260 and Aroclor 1254 were the main mixtures used before 1950; Aroclor 1242 was the main mixture used in the 1950s and 1960s until it was phased out in 1971 and replaced by Aroclor 1016.

Production

One estimate suggested that 1 million tonnes of PCBs had been produced. 40% of this material was thought to remain in use. Another estimate put the total global production of PCBs on the order of 1.5 million tonnes. The United States was the single largest producer with over 600,000 tonnes produced between 1930 and 1977. The European region follows with nearly 450,000 tonnes through 1984. It is unlikely that a full inventory of global PCB production will ever be accurately tallied, as there were factories in Poland, East Germany, and Austria that produced unknown amounts of PCBs., there were still 21,500 tons of PCBs stored in the easternmost regions of Slovakia.
Although deliberate production of PCBs is banned by international treaty, significant amounts of PCBs are still being "inadvertently" produced. Research suggests that 45,000 tons of 'by-product' PCBs are legally produced per year in the US as part of certain chemical and product formulations.
Commercial production of PCBs was banned in the United States in 1979, with the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Applications

The utility of PCBs is based largely on their chemical stability, including low flammability and high dielectric constant. In an electric arc, PCBs generate incombustible gases.
Use of PCBs is commonly divided into closed and open applications. Examples of closed applications include coolants and insulating fluids for transformers and capacitors, such as those used in old fluorescent light ballasts, and hydraulic fluids considered a semi-closed application. In contrast, the major open application of PCBs was in carbonless copy paper, which even presently results in paper contamination.
Other open applications were lubricating and cutting oils, and as plasticizers in paints and cements, stabilizing additives in flexible PVC coatings of electrical cables and electronic components, pesticide extenders, reactive flame retardants and sealants for caulking, adhesives, wood floor finishes, such as Fabulon and other products of Halowax in the U.S., de-dusting agents, waterproofing compounds, casting agents. It was also used as a plasticizer in paints and especially "coal tars" that were used widely to coat water tanks, bridges and other infrastructure pieces.
Modern sources include pigments, which may be used in inks for paper or plastic products. PCBs are also still found in old equipment like capacitors, ballasts, X-ray machines, and other e-waste.

Environmental transport and transformations

PCBs have entered the environment through both use and disposal. The environmental fate of PCBs is complex and global in scale.

Water

Because of their low vapour pressure, PCBs accumulate primarily in the hydrosphere, despite their hydrophobicity, in the organic fraction of soil, and in organisms including the human body. The hydrosphere is the main reservoir. The immense volume of water in the oceans is still capable of dissolving a significant quantity of PCBs.
As the pressure of ocean water increases with depth, PCBs become heavier than water and sink to the deepest ocean trenches where they are concentrated.

Air

A small volume of PCBs has been detected throughout the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere serves as the primary route for global transport of PCBs, particularly for those congeners with one to four chlorine atoms.
In the atmosphere, PCBs may be degraded by hydroxyl radicals, or directly by photolysis of carbon–chlorine bonds.
Atmospheric concentrations of PCBs tend to be lowest in rural areas, where they are typically in the picogram per cubic meter range, higher in suburban and urban areas, and highest in city centres, where they can reach 1 ng/m3 or more. In Milwaukee, an atmospheric concentration of 1.9 ng/m3 has been measured, and this source alone was estimated to account for 120 kg/year of PCBs entering Lake Michigan. In 2008, concentrations as high as 35 ng/m3, 10 times higher than the EPA guideline limit of 3.4 ng/m3, have been documented inside some houses in the U.S.
Volatilization of PCBs in soil was thought to be the primary source of PCBs in the atmosphere, but research suggests ventilation of PCB-contaminated indoor air from buildings is the primary source of PCB contamination in the atmosphere.