Document 8RXg63kxXvx4mqY019YQaMLw5

N THK alphabet of environmental contamination, pcbs have a wide variety of uses. Production and i i*cb may become as well known ae DDT, and for sales figures are not available, but a Monsanto bul some of the same reasons. Like ddt, PCB contains letin lists many products in which pcbs may he chlorine, hydrogen and carbon; like ddt, it is not as plasticizers, flame retardants, insulating fluid.-, soluble in water, it is soluble in fat, and it is ex or to impart some other useful quality. Among iho <? tremely persistent in the environment. products are natural and synthetic rubber, electric..! The chemical similarity between the two also sug products, floor tile, printer's ink, coatings for paper gests similar physiological effects in the bodies of and fabric, brake linings, automobile-body sealm..*, fish, birds, and perhaps people. In one particular paints, varnisjiqs, waxes, asphalt, and many kinds respect which will be discussed later, this has been of adhesives and resins, pcbs are also recommended - confirmed in the laboratory. by Monsanto for mixing with chlorinated insocli- A striking difference is that ddt has been used in cides to suppress their vaporization and extend their the open environment with intent, because of its "kill-life." toxic effects, to destroy insects; PCB, although known The amounts being used are suggested by the fact to he toxic, has been used for its other qualities, and that PCBs are available in containers ranging frem has escaped Into the environment by accident. It is 50-pound cans to 600-pound steel drums ami by the not yet known exactly how and'where this happens, tank carload. nor how much is escaping. As with many of the chemical compounds m. Polychlorinated biphenyls, to give PCBs their widely used in this age of synthetics, concern nU-m proper name, are chemical compounds manufactured the hazards of pcbs has been limited u* ihc . in this country by the Monsanto Chemical Company exposure of industrial workers. Until lb(Y> u ..b . and in Europe and Japan by other manufacturers. occur to anyone to ask whether PCBs mighi j- A Monsanto spokesman says that pcbs were first leased into the environment, or if they were. \w>.d produced in 1929 by the Swan Corporation which they might do to birds or fish or human being.-. later became part of the Monsanto Company, and The first revelation that these compound.- i...d that European production followed, probably about been dispersed in ways which made them avail;.' V ten years later. Aroclor (the Monsanto trade name) to living things came in ^966 with a report by Soiv:. began to be used extensively during World War II. Jensen, a Swedish scientist, that he had identified MOhiS 063156 Environment Vol. 12. N.. . By Robert Risebrough with Virginia Brodine pens in the bodies of 200 pike (taken from different parts of Sweden) , in other fish, and in an eagle. Dr. Jensen had also analyzed eagle feathers which had been preserved in a museum, some of them going back as fRr as 1880; he found rCBs first in feathers collected in 1944. A colleague of Dr. Jensen, Gunnar Widmark, re ported Utcr in 1900 to an international commission studying pesticide analysis. One of the problems in isolating and identifying residues of DDT had been the presence of what Dr. Widmark described as "un known but chlorine-containing compounds" so simi lar to i>dt that they may sometimes have been mis taken for it. These compounds he and Dr. Jensen hud identified as i*cbs. The polychlorinated biphe nyls had been found in fish and sea birds, in conifer needles, and in some samples of human fat. Scientists in Britain and the Netherlands have now identified reus in wildlife of their respective countries. Jensen and his colleagues have recently reported details of their analysis of Swedish wild life. The detection of pcbsin North America began in the spring of 1J)67 when Monte Kirven of the San Diego Natural lmtory Museum was searching the southwest for peregrine falcons, those swift-flying and now fASt-disappcaring birds of prey. He found a nest with a single, unhatched, abandoned egg and January-Fkiuuiasy, 1970 Robert Riskrrouch, Ph.D., in AModule Specialist at the Institute of Marine Resources, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California at Berkeley. brought it to our laboratory at the Institute of Ma rine Resources, University of California in Berkeley. The egg was found to contain five milligrams of DDE, the DDT compound that is apparently the most abundant synthetic pollutant in the environment. The analysis also showed the presence of other com pounds which could not be identified. These same compounds had been evident in the analysis of other species of birds and of fish. Because of the impor tance of the peregrine, an attempt was then made to identify the compounds, but without success until the Swedish papers came to the senior author's at tention. With this clue, further work in his labora tory made it clear that the hitherto unknown com pounds were polychlorinated biphenyls. The Monsanto Company, according to a statement supplied by the company and printed in full on pages and 27, is not yet ready to accept the conelusion that the formerly unknown chlorinated com pounds are indeed rCBs. However, because similar r4suHs'"Wefe''6T>laned independently in the labora tories of Sweden, England, Scotland, the Noiherlands, and the United States, supported by details! descriptions of the analytical techniques used (in- MONS 03315 7 TABLE 1 DDT and PCB in Peregrin* Falcons Total . DDT** Ratio of PCB DDT to PCB Immature bird. California breast muscle (wot)* livor (wot) brain (wo() brain (Upld) carcass (wot) carcaoo (lipid) Adult bird. California broast muscle (wot) liver (wot) brain (wot) brain (lipid) careaBo (wot) carcass (lipid) Immature bird. Aretie bread mutclo (wot) broad mutclo (dry) livor (wot) brain (wot) body fat (wot) carcau (wot) carcata (lipid) Second year bird. Aretie brooBt muBcle (wot) broad mutclo (dry) brain (wot) carcasB (wot) earcaBi (lipid) 14.4 7.7 2.9 36 20.2 300 127 77 49.S 69S 85 2,600 2.3 7.8 1.0 0.43 50.3 9.3 63.7 99 296 65 70 5.000 94 4.5 1.5 19.3 10.8 160 98 57 34.6 415 65 1.960 0.16 0.54 O.iO 0.037 3.2 0.80 5.5 28 84 21 19.7 1.420 1.5 1.7 1.9 18 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 14 14 10 12 16 12 12 3.S 3.5 4.7 3.S 3.5 which make them desirable for various industrial uses. They are also among the qualities which makcj v them of great concern as environmental pollutants/ Because they have these characteristics, they are extremely persistent -- just how persistent is not known -- and they can be carried, like ddt, far and wide over the globe by air currents. (DDT is one of the most stable and least water-soluble of the chlori nated hydrocarbon pesticides.) The PCBs that have already been found in the environment could not all have come from the one insecticide use mentioned in the Monsanto bulletin. There are four other possible sources, all of which should be explored. The first is the stacks of the'^ plants which manufacture Aroclor and the plants--" i which manufacture the products incorporating Aro- __ Iclor. The ^econdis otherfonns of industrial wasted'-' IFor example, PCBs, other synthetics, and oil arc: ' mixed to make a fire-resistant hydraulic fluid, one of the "closed system" uses of PCBs referred to in the Monsanto statement. Yet the amount of hydraulic fluid that escapes from this "closed system" is sug gested in a Mobil advertisement stating that "indus try wastes almost four times as much hydraulic pjl as it uses." The third possible so.urce is gradual wear/ and weathering 'of Aroclor-containing products which may result in slow release of PCBs as vapor or minute particulate matter into the atmosphere; for example, asphalt which may contain fobs, is sub- TABLE 2 Concentrations in parts per million -- wet weight, dry weight . or lipid (extracted lot) weight. 'Total DDT Includes p.p' DDT, p,p` DDE, p.p' DDD. p,p' DDMU, o,p` DDT and o,p' DDE. Adopted irom Risebrough et at., "Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Global Ecosystem.'* Nature 220 (S172): 1098. Dec. 14, 1968. eluding mass spectrometry) and the results ob tained, this conclusion is now generally accepted in the scientific community. The amounts found, which the Monsanto statement refers to as "in the parts per million range," have been as large as 1,980 parts PCB per million parts of body fat in North American Seregrine falcons and 17,000 parts per million in of the white-tailed eagle in Sweden. The distribution of these compounds is highest in the areas where men are concentrated and carry on industrial activity. They appear in smaller amounts in organisms found at greater distances from urban centers. (See Tables 1 and 2 and the sixth reference under Notes which begins "Jensen. . . .") The hfonaanlo laullatLn previously mentioned re fers to the chemical.stabilityand their in solubility in water. These are among the qualities Speciee PCB Content of Eggs of Sea Birds Locality Number ol Samples PBC* Brandt's Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant MurTt Pigeon Guillemot Costin'* Auklet Western Gull Black-crowned night heron Caspian Torn Forster* Tern Least Petrel Peregrine Falcon Farallon Islands 17 113 San Mateo County, Calif. 2 62 Farallon Islands Farallon Islands San Mateo County 6 558 1 20 1 62 Farallon Islands 2 15 Farallon Islands San Mateo County San Francisco County 1 118 1 112 1 463 San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay 1 330 l 24 San Francisco Bay San Diego Bay 2 805 5 1.010 San Diego Bay 2 114 Bafa California Baja California 2 31 1 471 Where sample Included[ more than one egg. value given in the average. *in micrograms. 18 ENnuONMKNT Voi. 12, No. 1 MOMS 043156 I ' ' -*lk * ^ r*v*. . ip^f , Vv.*r y/ V , W . r * \ /ff^vA vK f-iSsOVSiS i*nA,, .,VVy/A/'Wwr'-'-<^*-*,?;?' *V" -'' .V;;ir\,^r^:;^w!r'l4 <>'/-V-' '' ,v -.CN . - a-. \> I v- - cv ..'V-M `XJN.. .v V jected to constant friction, and may be a source of either vapor or particulate matter containing pcbs. |/^/^ouiJhv many products containing rcBs eventually |CI/' wind up In* the city dump, where they may be burned. Although fire resistant, at sufficiently high temperatures PCB* may be released as a vapor in the form of highly. toxi(_fumes. (Oxides of PCB* which would bo produced in burning are more toxic than the unoxidized pcbs.) pcbs have not yet been desltected in samples of airborne particulates, but have ?TWn shown to be present in rainwater._More study l\njit obviously needed to show the ways in which Veils f/ outer the environment. ter7*~Environment, July-August 1969). Even with* out knowing the exact sources of pcbs, it would be Janiiaiiv>February, 1970 Both DDT and fcb affect the hormone systems of birds and rats, and for this reason, may threaten the survival of exposed species such as the least tern shown above with young. possible to discover, by the analysis of various forms of wildlife, whether a similar distribution of pcbs is taking place, or whether pcb contamination is local. In the past two years our own work in California, and that of scientists elsewhere in this country, Brit* ain, and Sweden have provided mounting evidence for the worldwide dispersion of pcbs. The levels oCjJ^urft PCBs found in wildlife near industrial centers may be Ii very high, frequently higher than the amount ofLj^^J DDT. Birds and fish from more remote areas mnyj contain less PCB than DDT. ^ v In Table 1 the concentrations of ddt and pcb found in various tissues in two peregrine falcons from California and two from the Arctic are shown. The final column shows the ratio of DDT to pcb--in the California birds, between gne and two times as much DDT; in the arctic birdB, from three-and-a-half to six- MGNS 063159 1 teen limes jm much ddt as pcb. Tho^onstrftsC'belween ll'e immature and the older birds frStirt>6th areas is also interesting. The imma ture California bird had 160 parts per million PCB in its carcass lipid (extracted fat), while the adult California bird had J,980 parte per million. The contrast between the immature and older migrant birds from the Arctic was even greater, with an in crease from 5.6 parts per million in the young bird to 1,820 in the older one. The arctic birds migrate through the U.S. and winter in the tropics. Evi dently they pick up both DDT and PCB during their migration and on their wintering grounds. Analyses of Western Gull eggs show that eggs from San Francisco Bay contained more pcb than eggs from the Farallon Islands, 27 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge, which in turn contained more PCB than eggs from Baja California, a location much further from any industrial center. Samples of bird tissue and eggs from a variety of species were collected off California (see Table 2). Some of these birds breed in New Zeland and Aus tralia, others on the coasts of British Columbia and Alaska, still others in Alaska and the Canadian ArcRe. It is not clear how much DDT and PCB the birds ingested at iheir native breeding grounds, and how much in the vicinity of California. What is quite clear is that PCB is widely distributed among marine birds which are at the top of a complex mesh of food , chains in the sea. One source of PCBs in the birds is clearly, the fish on which they prey, as PCBs have been found in a variety of fish from many different waters. PCBs have also been found in Jjeshwater.fish and terrestrial birds, although there is less published data on them than for marine organisms. What is the Hazard? The American Conference of Governmental Indus trial Ilygicnista (accih) recommends levels of haz ardous materials which should not be exceeded in occupational situations. The ACCIH recommendation for PCB containing 42 percent chlorine is the same as for ddt, namely, a maximum or "threshold limit value" of one milligram per cubic meter of air. (A "threshold" is said to be an amount below which no effect is noted.) But some rcss are more heavily chlorinated, and for those with 64 percent chlorine, the ACCIH threshold limit value is half as much (0.6 DDT reaches the environment by intent, PCB by accident. The most extensive research on pens in wildlife in this country has been undertaken along the California coast, hut vchs have also been found in terrestrial and freshwater organisms. milligram per cubic meter of air). Among the Aro- cIojtb listed for sale by Monsanto are chlorinated biphenyls that are up to 68 percent chlorine and mix tures of ^lorjjiaied.Uahguyls a?td chlgrjnated tn>-y; phenylg that are up to 65 percent chlorine. ij The more heavily chlorinated rCBs have been re ported in wildlife both in the U.S. and in Europe, and have been found to be highly persistent in the bodies of fish and birds, while the more lightly^ chlorinated PCBs are somewhat less persistent, an/fx// are metabolized or excreted more rapidly. This was*"' confirmed by*a laboratory experiment by Kocmnn in which Japanese quails were fed a mixture of pcks. After the birds died, it was found that some of the PCBs, particularly the more lightly chlorinated ones, had been metabolized. However, this is not neces sarily reassuring. Little is known about the metab olites -- the breakdown products -- of pcb; one of the metabolites of dot (DDE) affects the reproduc tive systems of birds. PCBs are described in Dangerous Properties of />- \ dtistrial Materials as affecting human skin and liver , at high concentrations, although how high is not ' stated. The toxicology is described as follows: j The lesion produced in the liver is an acute yel low atrophy. This hepatotoxic action of the chlori nated diphenyls [same as biphenyls] appears to be increased if there is exposure to carbon tetra chloride *at the same time. The higher the chlorine content of the diphenyl compound, the more toxic it is likely to be. Oxides of chlorinated diphenyls are more toxic than the unoxidized materials. The skin lesion is known as chloracne, and con sists of small pimples and dark pigmentation of the exposed areas, initially. Later comedones [blackheads] and pustules develop. In persons who have suffered systemic intoxication the usual signs and symptoms are nausea, vomiting, loss of weight, jaundice, edema and abdominal pain. Where the liver damage has been severe, the pa tient may pass into & coma and die. Cases of occupational chloracne and of systemic damage wei'V reportedln the early years of raTu.se. Experiments with laboratory animals-also revealed the high toxicity of PCBs injected, fed or applied to the skin. There is no evidence to indicate that PCBs. in tin* environment are likely to reach levels which yyoyddA 'cause aevere inTurv or death from short-term e\(^ posure. The possible pcb hazard like so many en vironmental hazards, is one of(Tong ternv)lo\v-level SO Environment You 1-. No, 1 MQN5 083160 exposure nnd perhaps of effects from its combina tion with oilier poisons. There is also the more in direct, but no less real danger of destroying other forms of life -- part of the vast interconnected web of species of which man is but one part and on which he depends. The Accumulating evidence that no part of the world is now free of pesticide residues, the products of atomic explosions, or of a variety of industrial pollutants, has induced subtle but profound changes in our concept of our position in the global ecosys tem and in our individual conceptions of remoteness and isolation. There has never been any question that local ecosystems could be irreversibly changed by the introduction of synthetic chemicals, whether these introductions be purposeful or incidental. Since the sea, however, is the dominant feature of the worldwide ecosystem, interpretations of environ mental contamination in terms of local ecosystems, whether terrestrial or aquatic, may be misleading. The accumulation in marine organisms of signifi cant amounts of several pollutants -- those such as pens which are insoluble in water, but soluble in fat --- not only elicits an uncertainty about the long term utilization of the sea as a source of human food, but has suddenly raised the question of the ultimate survival of a number of species of sea birds. These species comprise a very large fraction of the world's wildlife, and doubts about their future would have been considered preposterous and un tenable only three or four years ago. Massive re productive failures have been noted in 1969 in the brown pelican in Southern California. The jack mackerel fishery out of Los Angeles has just been closed because of the high levels of DDT in the fish. In terms of the exposure of many forms of life and of people of all Ages and states of health to rCBs, is there really a "threshold limit value"? Is there really an amount of polychlorinated biphenyl which is safe to breathe or to ingest? No threshold has been found for the effect of ddb on eggshell thick ness. one of the problems which appears in the re productive systems of birds that have ingested the pesticide. Very small amounts of DDE were found to REMINDER This issue is the January/ February issue, one of two double issues published during ; the year (the other will be the July/August one). The next :' magazine you receive will be the ' March issue. : cause some thinning of the shells. The close similarity of DUT And icn sinm-no, > i< ./[> ,possibility that pcb might have similar physiol*.t'inNeffects. Accordingly, David Peakall of the Langmuir/ Laboratory at Cornell University, investigated the effect of pcb on pigeons, and found that, like i>pt, it induced (stimulated the production of) enzymes in the liver, enzymes which broke down estradiol, a sex hormone. The entire reproductive cycle in birds, from the development of the male and female reproductive organs to the laying of the egg and the birth of the chick, is mediated by various sex hormones. When the work of a hormone has been done, it is broken down by Enzymes in the liver. However, if the en zyme activity is artificially increased by the intro duction into the body of a chlorinated hydrocarl>on, it appears that the hormone will be broken down at a much faster rate. Among the effects of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides that have been found in birds are delayed laying of eggs, thin egg shells (some times so thin as to break) and chicks that die at hatching. In Peakall's experiment, four groups of four birds each were used. The first group was given no chlori nated hydrocarbon. The second was injected with DDE (the persistent breakdown product of dpt) ; 40 milligrams of DDE per kilogram of body weight were injected The third group was injected with 40 milli. grams of pdt per kilogram of body weight, and the fourth with 20 milligrams of pcb per kilogram of body weight. The PCB used was Aroclov 1262, which is approximately 62 percent chlorine. One week later, the birds were killed, and the portion of the liver containing enzymes was removed. To each liver J was added a tiny amount of the sex hormone. etra-f did. The breakdown of the estradiol was increased ` two-and-a-ftalf times by DDE, almost three-and-a-half times by DDT and fivo-and-a-half times by PCB. in j spite of the fact that only "half as much pcb was used. .T- fl Street and his co-workers at Utah State Uni versity investigated the effect of a series of ten rcss ranging from 21 to 68 percent chlorine on female rats. All of them stimulated enzyme induction; the} amount of stimulation increasedjragularlv with the percentage of chlorine m the PCB. pCBs containing more tharT percent chlorine were as potent in enzyme_induction.as dpt. This.is..particularly inter/" estlng in view of the Monsanto statement that "n(/ adverse- effects"'have been found in rats or other laboratory species fed up to 100 parts per million. (Street fed rats from 50 to 100 parts per million.) Induction.of these enzymes would be one of the ex pected effects of^the jraiycTilorlnated InphcnvTkri r. people. Normally the lifetime of the induced enzymes * is short. The foreign, water-insoluble compounds (continued on jut;je 22 MGNS 063161 Environment Vot.. 1C, N>.. i Lillie in known a* yet about what happena between the manufacture of rcae and their appearance in the bodies of birds, fish and people. One possible source of the peas in the environment is manufactured products incorporating rrns which are eventually thrown way and may be burned, as in the apartment house incinerator-shown at right, releasing the compounds or their more toxic oxides into the atmosphere. I fcontinued from page it) that act as inducers are usually converted to watersoluble derivatives that can be excreted by the kid . noy. Enzyme activity falls as the inducers are me tabolized in thie way. The polychlorinated biphenyls, however, particularly those with greater amounts of chlorine, are relatively resistant to biological break down. They might therefore persist as inducers without boing broken down themselves. As the enzymos are continually induced, hormones and p*yTmpaother.cTaM6i.of molecules as-well might therT<SiTI>s7netalljzefarralerr4TOrjasn normal'oyeij llie wbolc life span of the organism. The long-term ^--.significance of this phenomenon Ts'as yet unknown, /^/./investigation of various .ppssible effects of the [pC^ensyme activity might be undertaken in worker 1' with a long"history of exposure to I'CSs. January-February, 1070 Ver^little data is available about PCBs in people. Both SwecHsh and 'British scientists have reported finding them in a few samples of human fat. In North America the profile of the rCB compounds on gas chromatograms of human milk samples was found by Dr. James Enderson anB Fred Seland of the Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Although the air of Colorado Springs is much cleaner than the air of our larger cities, it was not evident whether the people of Colorado Springs were obtaining the rCB in their food or were inhaling it. The senior author then measured the rCB in a series ofjnothcrs'. milk samples.from Berkeley and from Los Angeles. Every sample tested contained both. WB.and dpt compounds. As is well known, the DDT content in mothers' milk is above the maximum concentrations permitted in cow's milk. The Berkeley mothers' milk HONS 083162 pen in widely dUtrlbutcd among marine bird* which are at the top of a complex meah of food chains in the sea, including the Lcnch'i petrel shown . here. The accumulation of significant amounts of several pollutants, including PCM, in marine wildlife, not only elicita an uncertainty about the long-term utilisation of-the aca m a source of human food, but has suddenly raised the question of the ultimate survival of a number of speeies of sea birds. r f |* ' * [ [ [ r I f contained about four times the legal tolerance limit. The Los Angeles mothers' milk had somewhat less DDT, but because of the wide variation within each scries, the differences were not significant. The pcb concentrations in both series averaged about 0.06 pails per million of the whole milk. - Wo can no longer assume 'that the Berkeley air is cleaner than the Air of Los Angeles, and we still do not know therefore how much of the rCB in people derives from food and how much is absorbed by the lungs from the air. We did find, however, very small amounts of refl in a sample of cow's milk, and it is present in higher concentrations in fish which are eaten by people. I Establishment of tolerance limits of ren in food is clnnriv mTant.ial Under present law a manufacturer of pesticides must petition for a tolerance limit for each pesticide on each food crop treated with the particular pesticide. Food shipments contaminated with pesticides are subject to condemnation if they PCBs are available in containers ranging from 50-pound cans to 600-pound steel drums, and by the tank carload. exceed the tolerance or if no tolerance limit has been set for that particular food. The jack mackerel of the Pacific coast and the coho salmon of Lake Michi gan, seized and condemned by the Food and Drug Administration because they contained high levels of DDT, contained pcb in addition to the dpt com pounds. -- A thorough investigation of the physiological ef- ) fects of the agricultural and industrial chlorinaledy hydrocarbons, including their effects on the lepro-'s ductive systems of both birds and mammals, is ur gent. We wpulcLdcL wett to act _gf jin L: from laboratory animals and wildlife rather than waiting for definitive knowledge, froni,,studies of people. Effects on people might not show up for many years and would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to relAte to one specific cause. An effect might derive from the(intei aetionlNof two or sev eral pollutants. The white-tailed eagle's studied by Jensen in Sweden contained pcb, nnT and mercury compounds. -- The pcb in birds, fish, and people might dorivy^ from only a few of the PCB uses which release ir* comparatively large amount of these compounds in to the environment. Release of hydraulic oils cnr.-Q taining PCB into waterways might be one dT'these. It is also possible that each manufactured product containing pcb, which like all manufactured prod- nets eventually becomes a .waste product, will even^. tually release PCB into the environment, just as jin - DDT use will eventually increase the environmental burden of DDT. We very much need therefore t<v establish the sourcesTofJ.he environmental residue.^ of pcb and to trace the paCKsTiy which they n;o\? through our environment. K PCB should prove to ho 24 flNVlKONMENT Voi. 12, No. 1 HONS 083163 <1 Monsanto manufactures Aroclor (trade name for pcbs) at this Sauget, Illinois plant and at a plant in Anniston, Alabama. No data is available on the loss to the environment of rcas in the course of the manufacturing process, nor on the losses at other plants where products are manufactured which contain peas. Swedish scientists have found ness in mussels, plaice, cod, and dogfish from remote ports of the west coast, like that shown at left. MONS 083164 an uncontrollable chemical like DDT, it will not be poHftlble to spenk of "controlled" uses. TCB therefore appears to be another waste product of our technology that is not recycled to primary $ materials. Although there are unquestionable eco nomic advantages derived from their use, the dimin- 6&- ifihing capacity of our global environment to absorb our own wastes should prompt us to consider whether -- and how -- we can develop a technology that can use its waste materials again and again and that does not permit any persistent wastes with bio logical activity to accumulate. U Monsanto Statement on PCB When this article was in preparation, the Monsanto Company was invited to provide a statement of its position on PCBs. A series of questions was also ad dressed to the company. The answers to some of these questions have been incorporated into the text of the article. Others follow the Monsanto statement. Late in February, 1969, a West Coast newspaper carried a major feature about "a menacing new pol lutant" found in the San Francisco Bay area. The arti cle was based on marine life research carried out by Dr. Robert Risebrough of tho University of California. The article statod (hat residues of pesticides (DDT and DDF) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) were threat ening the welfare of certain birds and posed a long term threat to humans. Monsanto manufactures polychlorinated biphenyl and markets it under our Aroclor trade name. (There are other manufacturers in Europe and japan.) We, therefore, would like to present some additional facts. The work done by Dr. Risebrough dates back to earlior rosoarch by other scientists who, while analyz ing pesticide residues in wildlife, soil and water, en countered unknown or "interfering" substances in the parts-per-million range. Several years ago, two Swedish scientists at Stock holm University's Institution of Analytical Chemistry, Professor Gunnar Widmark and Soren Jensen, reported they had identified these other substances. They said some of the materials were polychlorinated biphenyl or PCB. Since PCBs are not "broadcast" or spread around the land as are pesticides, the scientists the orized that the source must be the industrial wastes of PCB users. In addition to the work of Dr. Risebrough and the Swedish scientists, there have been other studies which indicate the presence of PCBs in the environment. Mon- son tojs^concernejj.pver thft_Bituation and is cooperat ing fuUy.-wi5Ltb^jdto- ' The common uses of commercial PCB would not nor mally lead to its release into the natural environment. A principal market lor PCB is in electrical applica tions where they are used as insulating fluids for transformers and capacitors. In this use, the chemical is completely sealed in metal containers. Another mar ket is for heat-transfer applications where the PCB fluid functions in a closed system. PCBs are also used in several applications where the chemical is incorporated into a polymer as an in tegral part of the solid material. Such polymers arc used in highly specialized applications as an adhesive, elastomer or surface coating. Polychlorinated biphenyls are not sprayed or dust'd on crops, woodlands or any other areas, as arc pesti cides. To our knowledge, they are not used in housej3gjnta,..ho.usehold. products, or .major vinyl picstics, g.s.hflS beencharged. Therefore, conclusions as to the source of PCB reportedly found in the environment are difficult to make. It has also been implied that polychlorinated bi phenyls are "highly toxic" chemicals. This is not true just like other industrial chemicals and home products now in widespread use, PCBs arc not hazardous when properly handled and used. During more than 40 years of U.S. production and use, cases of any toxic effect have been extremely rare -- and then only where the simple precautions recommended for use were not followed. Monsanto has research...-Programs under way to identify the compounds, reported to be PCB, and locate their source The programs involve precise analysis of environmental samples of water and soil. Also under way are studies to determine the biological effects of deliberate dosage of PCBs on fish and mammalian animals. Special emphasis is being paid to endocrino logical effects, mineral metabolism and reproduction physiology. Some preliminary biodegradability studies are under way. Further studies to clearly demonstrate this phe nomenon are contemplated. Very early results of chronic toxicity studies coniirir. that PCBs are not highly toxic. In 90-day studies cn rats and other normal laboratory species, there hnv.been no adverse effects when feedings oi up to l. parts per million were administered. Monsanto has always cooperalod on a regular bas s with federal, state and university laboratories m thc:r analysis of chlorinated hydrocarbon residues We will M MUNS 083165 fNVIKOMMF.NT YOU 12, NO. ) NOTH p. 16. .. but o Monsanto bulletin... IVImtfiil IuIImId 0/PL>tM. Organic Chemicals Division, Man* MM*, 01. LmIi, K., IMg. We nr* informed V n Monannt* spokesman that supplies af this bulletin "bav* ban exhausts* for several months, ana It ta In the process af baing revised . . . th bulletin . . . mn anlr the plwtltlMr tppllntiom, continue to do so. Additionally, Monsanto will continue to exercise the highest degree of control in its manulacturing. smpping and storing-o/ ^CB -- as we do with all products. In the functional fluids market, we have carried out a program lor several years tor the reclamation ol used PCBs to reuse these valuable materials. The source of the marine life residue identified as PCB it not yet known. It will take extensive research on a worldwide basis, to confirm or deny these initial scientific conclusions. Questions irom ENVIRONMENT and answers Iron MONSANTO. Environment: At which Monsanto plants is Aroclor manufactured? Monsanto: In the United States, Monsanto presently manufactures its Aroclor products at plants located in Sauget, Illinois, and Anniston, Alabama. Environment! Have you monitored emissions at those plants for the presence of PCB? If so, what were the results? Monsanto: Extensive efforts are in practice at these plants to prevent PCB losses to the environment. These practicos havo boon in use for many years and con trols are continually being improved. Environment: Does Monstanto itself incorporate PCB into some of its other products? If so, at which plants? Have emissions from these plants been monitored for the presence of PCB? With what results? Monsanto: Controlling practices are also in effect to prevent loss in those manufacturing operations where Aroclor is incorporated into other Monsanto products. Environment: Could you toll us what control measures you use to keep the PCB concentrations below the Threshold Limit Value In the plant atmosphere? Monsanto: (No answer) > Environment: We would bo pleased to receive any ad ditional information, such as scientific reports, adver tising copy, or any other materia) you may have on PCB. We would appreciate very much seeing copies of the original work you have done on the toxicity of Aroclor*. Monsanto: Our research department summarized some of their work and ... I am making it an enclosure. Editor's note: The enclosure dealt only with residue analysis, not with toxicity. -- JanuarY'F&bruary. 1970 manr af whleh are anly auweeated applications Ta our krw-olf-t,--. Armlor pinsllelters art not uned In all thr aw-lirnllnns *.' skri In the bulletin. Primary market* are chlorinated r.ihlwr, atyr,,. butadiene *epo>ymera and pelyaulflde seatanla. Aside from via*. Ueiaera, tha principal market for polychlorinated biphanyla fa in electrical application* where the insulating fluid* uaed in Irene, former* and caimcltators nr* completely aeaJftd. In another nxjur market, heat transfer application*, tha fluid i* uaed In cloned systems." ".. report by Soren Jensen... "Report f a Maw Chemical Maaard," New *rlantlet 111 (It. IHI. p. 17. "... Gunnar Wtdmark ... human fat." Wldmark, C.. "Possible Interference by Chlorinated Biphenyls'* In "Pesticide Raatduea" Report of the IUPAC Commission on the Development. Improvement, and Standnrdlaatlon of the Method* of Paatlelda Residue Analysle, Jearnel *f the Aaeecleilen of Officiel Analytical Chtmista *0:10ft, No. t. IHT. "Scientists in Britain...." Holmes, D.C., 3. H. Slmmona and 3. O'G Talton, `Chlorinated Hydrocarbon* In British Wildlife." Nalare UftiltT, 1M1 Holden. A. V., and X. Maraden, Nalare SIS: 1S74. IH7. .. a>t the Netherlands. .. Koernan. 3. H., M. C. Ten Noever De Braaw and R. H. lie Vo*. "Chlorinated Biphenyl* In FIah. Muaael* and Birds from the River Rhine and the Netherlands Coastal Arta." Nature ill: m*. March *1, 1*1*. "Jensen and his colleagues ... Swedish Wildlife." Jenaen. 8. *t el.. "DDT In Marin* Animals from Swedish Wetera." Nature MUIt, lftftft. . . unknown compound* were pofyeMortnaUH btphenyls." Note: laboratory procedure* In thle and suboeuuent analytes fur PCD* are described la the papers Hated above and In the author's scientific papers. Sea especially, Riaebreuirh, R. W.. P. Reich*. D. B. Peaknll. S. C. Herman and M. N. Xirven. "Pelyeherinated Biphenyls In the Global Scoayetem," Nature filNI. IMP. Rleetrough, R. W., P. Retch* and H. B. Oleott. "Current Progreso In the Deurmlnatlen of the Polyehlorlnuted Biphenyl*." Bulletin *f Bnvireniaratal Conumlnalian and Toairolegy 4:1*1, )***. p. 18. "... 1J80 pcs ... 17,000 parts per million... Rlaebrough, ot al., "Polychlorinated Biphenyl* in tha Global Ecosystem," a. clt. Janean, 8., up. clt. p. 10. .. may be released as a vapor in the form ef highly toxic fumes." Bax. N. Irving, Dangerous Properties of IndualrUI Malarial*, tad Sd.. BelnhoM Publishing Co.. New York. INI. p. M. p. 80. "... a complex mesh of food eJuttn* tn the sea...." Rlaebrough, R. W. "Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Id Marin* Beoayetema" |n Chemteal Fallout. Morton W, Miller and Gserge C. Barg, editors. Chariaa C. Thomas, IH*. "... 'threshold limit value' ef one milligram... " Bux, N. Irving, op. ett. p. 14. , ", . . more lightly chlorinated PCB*. . . Jensen, S. et al., ep. clt. .. laboratory experiment by Koernan...." Xoeman et al., ep. elL "... laboratory animat* ... high toxicity...." Millar. 3. W. "Pathologfe Changes In Animals Sapeacd te a Commercial Chlorinated Diphenyl.'' U.8. Public Health Rrrerd 19:19*6, 1*44. McLaughlin, Joseph, Jr., Jenn>PI*rie Marliar. M. Jaquelin* Varrett, Mary K. MuWhlar and O. Garth Tltshurh. "The Injection of Chemical* into the Yelk Sec of Fertile Cm prior to Incubation as a Tonicity Test," Tealroiegy and Applied FMrinarelscy 6:76ft, lftftl. p. 88. .. jaek mackerel fiehery...." "DOT Report Halt* Flaking," The New York Time*. Dec. 7, )#*. "The breakdown of t/to entrndiot Result* were in average amounts of polar melatmllie* formed in milllmlcTomelet for aaeh group of four birds: Contra) -- ]* | piut or mlnua ft.6i DDK -- 76.1 plus or mlnu* 14.1: DDT - 13.1 plus or minus 11.8; PCB -- 169.0 plus or minus 10.C. "J. C. Strerf and hie co-workcrs.. . Street. J. C.. P. M. Urry, p. J. Warstnff and A. D. Bis,:. "Comparative Effects of Polychlorinated Diphenyl* and Or.'nnn chlorine Fesllrld** In Induction of Ke|>*tlr Microsomal Sasymes." presented t tht ItHth Ameriran Chemical Society national meet Ing, New York, Sept, ft-12, ]ft(f. NUNS 0d31b6 27