Abstract |
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been recognized as environmental contaminants since the mid-1960s. Until recently, however, little work has been done on identifying levels of PCBs in the indoor air. This paper describes a method for the analysis of PCBs utilizing low-volume indoor air sampling. The method uses polyurethane foam as a collector and has a limit of detection of about 0.01 micrograms/cu m. This study shows that indoor air whether in commercial, industrial, or residential buildings, contains levels of PCBs at least 1 order of magnitude higher than outdoor levels. Defective fluorescent light ballasts are also shown to emit PCBs and to be an important source of indoor atmospheric contamination. |