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Inadvertent Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Consumer Products
Citation:
Liu, X. AND M. Mullin. Inadvertent Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Consumer Products. the 2019 ISEE & ISIAQ Joint Conference, Kaunas, Europe, LITHUANIA, August 18 - 22, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) compounds. Although commercial PCB production was banned in 1979 under the Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA), inadvertent generation of PCBs continues. A well-studied leading to inadvertent PCB contamination is the production of diarylide yellow pigment and the resulting creation of PCB-11. In 2014, EPA nominated PCB-11 for toxicity evaluation by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) based in part on the ubiquity of PCB-11 in the environment. Existing research tends to focus on either end of the spectrum- evaluating PCB concentrations in consumer products, or in the environment and human blood. An understanding of the fate and transport and exposure pathways is the missing link between the two primary bodies of research on the topic. EPA Region 10 and Office of Research and Development (ORD) are working together to conduct source characterization, emission, and fate and transport experiments and modeling for inadvertently generated PCBs in consumer products. This information will inform the underlying questions regarding whether or not exposure pathways exist from these products and discussions about potential migration from other types of products into the environment. The research results will help EPA Region 10 and the national PCB program address their PCB priorities. In addition, the information generated from this research will be an invaluable tool to utilize the toxicity data for PCB-11 generated by the NTP, once it is released.
Description:
Although production of commercial polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was banned in 1979 under the Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA), inadvertent generation of PCBs continues during a variety of chemical production processes and can contaminate products as well as waste streams. A well-studied process leading to inadvertent PCB contamination is diarylide yellow pigment production and the resulting creation of PCB-11 within the pigment molecule. Existing research has focused on evaluating PCB concentrations in consumer products, or in the environment and human blood. Data concerning the fate and transport of inadvertent PCBs from consumer products and the exposure pathways to humans is lacking. Our research investigates the concentrations of inadvertently generated PCBs in consumer products typically used by children to better understand migration pathways from these products into the environment and potential routes of exposure for human health risk assessment. As the first step, fourteen consumer products, such as chalk, crayon, paint, glue sticks, foam sheets, and food packages, were purchased from retail stores in the United States between September and October of 2018. Duplicate products were extracted and analyzed for 209 PBC congeners using modified EPA Method 1668C. Sonication and soxhlet extraction methods were compared for several products as well. Our preliminary results show that 4 out of 14 products contained PCB-11 only, in the range of 41 to 168 ng/g and a fifth product had PCB-95, PCB-121, PCB-85, PCB-118, PCB-149, PCB-153, and PCB-138, in the range of 64 to 137 ng/g. More product testing is needed to identify and quantify inadvertent PCBs in consumer products to provide the basis for further study of their migration pathways and potential routes of human exposure.