Document RaLjbpD2rJEG1YD4XrnYLODnX

After years ofspewing poisonous PCB into our environment, the tong, slowprocess of reversal may rake decades. by Hugh Grambau Ubiquitous end almost impossible to destroy, a synthetic hydrocarbon threatens Sport and commercialfishing in the Great Lakes end casts doubt on our ability as a nation to make the difficult economic and political decisions necessary to get the situation iitttlrr control. 11 SEEMED LIKE such a good idea I in 1929--a new man-made miracle fluid, ao stable thut under extreme temperature ami pressure it would not bleak down or boil away. A non-conductor f electricity and non-flammable, this gift of modem chemi'iry would revolutionize the electric power'industry aud find a thousand other manufacturing uses from ironing board covers to silo sealants. Today, the Grent Lakes states are banning Its use, in view of disturbing evidence that the liquid that promised miracles is threatening fish reproduction, making Great Lakes salmon and trout dangerous to eat, and possibly threatening people*! health. Commercial fishing in the Hudson River was recently banned and the once rosy prospects for a thriving commercial fishery in the Grent Lakes have turned gloomy. The worst part is that the problem is so widespread and lohg lasting, that our belated efforts to ban it from the environment may not improve the situation for many, many decades. The liquid is called polychlorinated biphenyl: PCB for short. It wns relatively easy to produce--you started with those venatile hydrocarbons, added some chlo rine atoms and that was all. A clo*e cousin, DDT, would later line! great favor as a prvtk'kle. Another relation, plastic, would touch every part of man's day-to-day life. There were some little irritations. Factory workers where PCB was produced developed a troublesome skin condition, but this was a minor thing compared to the promise that PCB held for the future. After a slow beginning, that promise began to be fulfilled after the Second World War. Industry discovered that high temperature heaters could be built with thinner, less expensive parts when they circulated PCB as a heat transfer medium, instead of superheated water or steam. In the automobile and metal rcfmishing industries, PCB proved to be an excellent hydraulic fluid, impervious to high pressure and heat. As a dielectric (non-conducting) fluid in power trans formers. PCB was soon replacing mineral oil due to its superior fire-retarding qualities. The equally safe dry transfor mers were large and clumsy to install in comparison. In the meantime, it was discovered that when added to resins and rubber, PCB made them more flexible and workable. In this use as a plasticizer. PCB was added to a myriad of different products--paints, waterproof canvas, ironing board covers, wire coating, printing inks, "carbonless" carbon paper, copying papers, plastics, rubber products, glue on envelopes and tapes, and sealers for joints to keep out moisture, dust or heat. Today, PCB is everywhere in ourenvironment. And it just wpn't go away. The very stability which made it so attractive for industrial purposes makes it very unattractive in the environment. When a product containing PCB is discarded, the article may be destroyed by burning or rotting in a dump. But the PCB sticks around, rising ss vapor into the air, seeping into the ground water, and, in the case of paper, is recycled and made into new products, tike food wrapping paper. In addition, heatm using PCB as a heal transfer medium and PCB hydraulic systems have proved to be notorious for leaks into streams and sewage systems. PCB biodegrades even more slowly than DDT, which persists 15 years ur more in the environment. Certain varieties hove a molecular structure so strong that natural enzyme action is unable to break it damn at all. "It's something that doesn't exist lie nature, and-nature has no way of dealing with it," says Steve Buda of the Michigan Water Resource Commiiion, To destroy PCB you must incinerate it at a temp* erature up to 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. Of the 80 million pounds of PCB sold al the height of production in the United States in 1970, about 40 per cent was used for plasticizers, heat transfer materials, hydraulic fluid and various other "openended" applications. The remaining 80 per cent was used by the power industry U the manufacture of transformers and capacitors, the so-called "close-ended** applications. The difference between tha two is supposedly that leaks to tha environment are less likely in a tram* former or power capacitor, where the fluid just sits there, than it a system where it ta pumped through leaky pipes or used as are ingredient in a product. The trouble is that because of careless disposal of many PCB-containing electrical components (like the black ballast condenser hiding in every fluorescent light litlure) and acci dental losse* from equipment in use ami JUNE 1976 HONS 037376 21 Storage futilities, scrioiii logics occur nil the lime. John IIcmc. supervisor of the Toxic Materials Unit of Michigan's DNR, estimate* (hat there are about 100.000 power capacitors i;i use in the state. "Detroit Edison lias around 26.000. Consumers Tower around 32.000 ami the rest arc in the hands of smaller utilities and industries," he reports. "1 figure (hat one-tenth of one percent explode each year." says Hesse. The explosion is caused by an internal arc short-circuiting the unit. Some of them rupture on poles and rooftops, spreading PCB over soil, shrub* bery' and into ponds and streams. Edison reported 25 ruptures last year. Each- capacitor contains from one to two gallons of PCB and each gallon weighs about 12 pounds. In a given year, as much as 1,000 pounds of PCD may be lost through such accidents and the cost of adequate clean-up can be prohibitive. Depending on the nature of the spill, collection and disposal of contaminated soil, brush and water from a single burst capacitor containing less than two gallons of PCB can run as high as S3,COO. But even larger quantities get into the environment. In 1971, one power company used 562,000 pounds of PCD with losses of 300 pounds from burst capacitors and 12,000 pounds from salvaged capacitors that had to be replaced. Most liquid from salvaged capacitors has been disposed of through waste haulers, who in turn get rid of it in several ways--using it to control dust on roatls, mixing it with oils as a fuel in low-temperature boilers, and treating and discharging it to local sewage systems. Last summer, the EPA discovered that two General Electric plants in New York were itgularlydischargtng at least 30 pounds of PCB into the Hudson River every day. So, the "dose-ended" systems aren't so closed after all. - In 1970, after the government began several studies on the effects of PCB in Ihe environment. Monsanto Chemical Corp oration, the only U.5. producer of PCB, "voluntarily" instituted a ban on sales for open-ended uses. Such sales were phased out over two years, ending in September; 1972. The rationale for the continued use of PCIl for electrical applications is that no substitute fluid exists which can equal its fire-retarding properties. Electrical codes require l*CU transformers in congested areas and in buildings. Where the hazard Is not great, mineral oil can be used Instead. Several companies arc working on substitutes that wilt meet ac.-cptahle safety standards. In January. Monsanto an nounced their intention to discontinue all sales as soon as a substitute is marketed. Until then, they will continue to turn out Of the 1CO.CCO power capacitors in use in tha state of MichiganpM about on* tenth of one per cent explode eech year. spMmg poisonous PCB into the environment. 45 million pounds, each year. . * But Japan implemented a total ban on PCB by September 1973, following the poisoning in 1968 of over a thousand persons by rice oil contaminated with PCB. Their symptoms became known as "Yusho" (oil) disease. When asked why Japan could stop any more PCB from going into her environ ment, while we can't. Monsanto replies that, "the Japanese power distribution industry, less advanced than the U.S. technically, had never actually gotten around to taking advantage of fireresistant transformers to the extent they have been used in this country. Most of thew transformers were either using mineral oil or were dry-type units." Without getting into the merirs of being '`technically advanced" or ''taking advan tage" of PCB transformers, it's clear (hat the widespread use of PCD in the power industry poses* a difficult ` economic problem. While safety standards could be met by dry transformers, they are bulky and would cost many millions ot'ddllars te> install, initially, the cost would be borne by u liltlies and industry, but eventually the public-would pay through higher rales and priors. , II Would It have been worth the cost halt the use of PCB as expeditiously a Japan? It's a hard question to answer^ since it involves weighing uncertain, budifr potentially disastrous environmental i sequences against very concrete doMarwil Unfortunately, the levels of PCF discovered in Great Lakes fish have pui B higher since the 1972 partial ban on s * Monsanto maintains that Improved detect^! (ton and increased surveillance ` simply unedvered the existence of I used in years past. DNR experts fear tb|tf* despite the efforts taken. dnngcr*i(gs amounts of PCB are still entering environment from electrical uses. It is a dilttcuU problem heeuuur a *4gr small amount of PCB in the water asjifcO create a very big threat to th- fish that in it. PCB is partially sobiK- hi very soluble in fat. Fbh. especially the varieties of trout, coho and chi,-u>k in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior-W* up PCD in the water around concentrate it in the fatty tissue* ofl^ijg bodies at level* as much as ICO.OCO O jjf 200,(XX) times greater than siirroucd^t^ water. The process is called "bioM*^?^ (ration." It means that while Ihe quiO-- of Pen that escapes into the euvit**88^6'-* is nH compared t*i olhcr pollutants (like pliosl'lute rertiii'er. used in n^rinilinre for twamplc), its impact can be devasta ting. The purest ol' oil Ihc Great Lakes is Superior. The l'CH level there has been measured at less than one part per trillion. a very low amount. And yet lake trout have been discovered off Isle Uciyale whicli exceed the Food Aii(t Drug Administra tion(S "safe" Until of 5.0 parts per million. That limit was set in J%9, after it wus discovered that PCB caused problems in animals and human beings similar to those caused by DDT. Lake trout in Lake Michigan often exceed the limit by two to three times, and people are warned not lo eai coho salmon they catch more than once a week. In Fubruary. the Health Planning Commission of the Stale of New York issued a report recommending that cel and salmon taken from Lake Ontario not be eaten at all. Commercial fishing, too, is limited by PCB`s. since fish above the five parts per million limit cannot be sold for human coasumption. PCB is the reason you can't by Michigan coho salmon at the grocery Store. Millions of pounds of surplus salmon from Lake Michigan are buried each year. An ironic twist is that the Michigan Indians who. up to now luive exercised their disputed right to unlimited fishing in Lake Superior may not be able In sell their catch if the PCB levels there continue to rise. Even the fish stocking programs that promised to bring back fishing in all the Great Lakes and the Detroit River appear threatened. . "We fear that the accumulation of PCB In fish tissues may not only be a potential threat to humans who may eat large quantities of contaminated fish, but also Ihmlen the fish themselves in terms of veporduetion problems," states the DNR's John Hesse. The levels of PCB concentrated in fish eggs are higher than in the fish themselves. In studies of Atlantic salmon, levels of .5 parts per Million in eggs create repro duction problems. PCB levels of 2.7 parts per million in rainbow trout eggs caused high mortality rates in the newly hatched tty. In Lake Michigan salmon eggs, the level average about 10 parts per million. DNR officials are carefully monitoring alt hatcheries. Fbli-eating birds have also been ad versely affected. Populations of ringbilled gulls, herring gulls, Caspian terns, com mon terns and dimhlu-vrcitcri cormorants In Lake Erie, Ontario and Huron have been found with high concentrations of l*CU. A pattern of reproductive failure Including high egg loss during incubatiun. mechanical brcakav.e of cpys due to thin shells, ami embryo and chick mortality has become apparent. When i'CU h js Fed to laying pheasant hens ami ring neck doves, egg production, hatchability and viability decreased. The symptoms r>r PC' ' poison, ing in birds arc sluggishness -i:.d body tremors, similar to those caused by DDT. Mink ranchers who fed their animals coho salmon from Lake Michigan con taining 5.0 parts per million discovered that ull reproduction was halted. With smaller quantities of PCB in the diet, the minks conceived, but had many stillborn young. After the accidents on the mink ranches, research was conducted in which mink were led 10 parts per million of PCB. Seven out of ten died. In other research, PCB tins been shown to cause liver cancers in rats. In tests with rhesus monkeys at the University of Wisconsin, females fed a diet containing only 2.5 parts PCB per million suffered from swelling around the head, loss of hair, redness of the skin and- acnc-like lesions on the face and neck. They also had reduced conception rates mid increased menstrual bleeding. On the basis of this data. Canada established a "safe" limit in fish for human consump. lion of two parts per million, it is rumored that the FDA is on the verge of following suit. We don't know the effects of chronic exposure to low levels of PCB on humans, although tests on a cross-section of the American population in 1974 revealed that 40 percent of those tested had PCB levels above one part per million in their fat tissues. . As in several other environmental disasters, Japan has unfortunately pro vided the only large sample of human guinea pigs other than factory workers. In She 1968 Yusho incident, a leaky heater contaminated a batch of riee oil with 2.000 to 3,000 parts PCB per million. Health officials estimated that the victims con sumed between .5 and 2.0 grams of PCB. Their clinical symptoms included: sys temic gastrointestinal problems, abdomi nal pain, acne-form eruptions on the skin accompanied by accentuated hair follicles, red blotches on the limbs and a persistent feeling of weakness. Children showed decreased growth rates. Babies born to pregnant woman who ate the contami nated oil had unusually grayish, dark brown stained skin, and in half of the cases, had darkly pigmented gums and nails. Alt the babies had excessive eye discharge. Although many of the victims improved after several years, abuut half showed no change and there appears <n be no cure for the disease. Humans can lake PCB into their bodies through digestion, inli.il.nion *m| absorption through the skin and mcciums membrane*. It n prev-nf i,, ,,,,r rfr rrf water and sometimes contaminated food other than fish. In 1970, t!iu | im identiTied milk contamination in Ohio. Georgia and Florida which resulted t.-oni die use of a sealant containing PCM in silos. The sealant contaminated the grain, cows ate the grain, and PCB appeared in their milk. A similar incident occured in Michigan last year, when 76 dairy hercN were found to be contaminated. In factories, workers are often directly exposed to PCB compounds. Engineers in charge of a PCB heater in a Detroit auto* motive psiint plant complains of symp toms similar to Yusho pensioning. Last summer General Electric admitted that over the last 15 years 49 employees at plants in Hudson Falls and Ft. Edward. New York, had reported c.iscs of allergic rashes, diagnosed as being caused by contact with PCB. Workers can also expose their wives and children. In 1933, it was not uncommon for whole families to get a severe skin disease called chlcraene when the father worked in plants producing PCB. In a recent study of vacuum cleaner sweeping from the home of a worker exposed to PCB on the job, researchers found 180 parts per million, a very* high level. We also breathe PCB. One majur source to (he atmosphere is the refuse dump, where PCB-containlng papers and pro ducts are often burned. Transformers which contain PCB have vents which add vapors to the air and vaporization directly from paints, coatings and plastics made with PCB has been reported. Later the vaporized PCB returns to earth with rain or snow. Samples or snow in Wisconsin showed PCB levels greater than those of any stream nowing into Lake Michigan. The EPA has estimated that 80 percent of the PCB entering Lake Michigan in a given year came from the atmosphere. Disposal of PCB presents a big problem; there simply aren't enough adequately equipped incinerators. Monsanto will handle pure PCB liquid for a price, but can't dispose of any solid waste, like sawdust from factory Roots or contamin ated soil cr brush. The only alternative to incineratum to dispusal in a completely scaled landfill, an that no PCB can seep into ground water. But that, in turn, creates anoflier orenpational hazard. A study of refuse workers showed that 5Tpercent had PCU in their blood plasma, compared to only It percent of a control group. PCB is going to keep entering the environment for yean, even when produc ts*ex* turn to pifje GW UJiNF VI7G MONS 037378 23 [PCO.....from pntjit 23) tk*n \\ t'.iulW diwuntimivri. It '< sticky. A . I-J/1 JstpuiKMi itmly vhows that PCB mflwnb ?(* (lie lincn of pcrams lumlkn" Varhnln,` carbon ;>apcr\ and dew not readily wa>h ol From foctoriea, even with repented Ihnlimgx, measurable (if much reduced) levels of l*C3 see entering sewers And stream* from heaters and hydraulic systems Ion* since converted to other lluiriv The same residue problem wilt plague tile power industry when some new fluid replaces PCB in transformers and capacitors. Old stocks of papers, paints, and other HCB-containing products may not run out for decades. When PCB goes down a drain in a factory, it is not'eliminated from the environment by- sewage treatment. Sec ondary treatment' removes about 50 per / -cent from the water that enters rivers and . lakes, tertiarytreatmentabout66percenL . V Whai Is removed* from the water goes into '" sewer vludge. which is commonly disposed of by incineration (not necessarily* at . .. temperatures high enough to destroy PCB) -.V spreading on agricultural land, or dumo- . '; ing in landfills. Ac present, there is oo way . ` - of gating rid of contaminated waste* water .'. that does not pub. PCB back int (he environment. . * " . * There is one-bright spot, though: the -government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, working with a Canadian cement `company, have-pionented a process of - incinerating PCB Tn cement kilns. Not only ' b th# PCB destroyed, but the amount of chemical additives usually needed to make cement is rcuurca. cutting costs tn tns manufacturer. "'Che l)NR ii having informal discus sions with the Peerless Cement Company about such setup in Michigan," reports John Mvsse. "It would have the advantage of providing local disposal services which do not miw exist." . In March. Michigan passed a bill banning alt open-ended uses of PCB in the state. Indiana passed a carbon copy bill late last year. Continued use and sale for transformers and capacitors will be alK--ed until the director of the DNR rules that an acceptable substitute is available. The bill also includes labeling, reporting and disposal requirements for continued use. Up until now, there have been no restrictions whatever on the use or disposal of PCB anywhere... ` . v ., The other "Great Lakes states are working on simitar legislation. The states, ted by Michigan, are clearly putting pressure on the federal government, which alone can- act effectively to end the national PCB crisis. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains that current statutes do not give it authority to ban the use of- PCB nationwide, a. point that conservationist* contest. A bill which would dearly empower the ERA to take control of (hr situation, the Toxic Sub stances Act. is currently languishing in Congress.- '. Barry Commoner, the noted environ* mentalist. has pointed out that although environmental problems are usually an extension of occupational health prob lems, lime is uur? imni rixu -r mm vtart dying Iron the residues of suhuanccs that workers handle every day. In the case of PCB, he points out that lir (he end of World War It the dangers and nersl for strict controls were rrljhittfit-tl from workers* experience. Yet no concern was expressed or research begun until t%6. when a Swedish scientist found I'CB in Baltic fish and birds. Rad somrhudy in industry, labor or government paid more attention to workers' ongoing job-related health prob- . lems, PCB might never have been allowed to permeate our environment. Today. . amidst talk of an epidemic of environ- - mentally caused cancer, and other health problems, we can no longer afford to . ignore the dangers of PCB. Nor can we- - avoid the unpleasant fact that many* * people, especially workers, have suffered - permanent damage to their bodies and - minds from toxic materials like PCB used in factories everyday. But long-term dam- age to one's health is seldom recognized as; an occupational injury, since compensa tion would have to be paid. -* PCB is only one of numerous products a of modem science and technology that has negative- side effects never considered . when we began theirwidespread maitufac- ~ lure and use. In the case of PCB, the early warning signs were present, but we ignored them, ..." in pact because we couldn't recognize them, in part because we didn't mmt to recognize them. The lure of "progress" * . \ * ' and profit overcame prudence. eENO * Index to advertisers -..4'e L ' ,-! :br xp4*'3? American Marine-Supply.. -- .46 Gregory5otitCo,...........54 ' Pearce Simpson ....... ............. .14' .-.AMWIickcrafnv-.................. Cov.3 Harbor West.V--.i..`--.57" Penn Yan........ ............................ 10- Aquasport ------ --7 Irish Boat Shop, lnc~---- ..44,55' Pistaker Marine, Inc.................. 54- ;Ayr*Way-----------------------------------t2 Jeffenon Beach Marina----.50,56.: *. Barrett Boat Works-.--.......... Jff*. * Jtsiek Shipyard,. : .-:-' j v Bey Haven Marina,Jnc..------.43 v -.The Eldean Co.:---- -- -----.--53 . Baudhuin Yacht Harbor - !---------.48 ' Kentuckiana Yacht Sales- ---.'1.31 . M.A. Baumann Boats --..---.SB - Kohler Co- .........--1'. - .37 James W. Bell ---.58* ` Lakeside Marina*--..----..59 Bolton's Marine-Sale* ....... --.50 Undmark ...................38,41 Boston Whaler -- -.............15 Brennan Marine* ------ --. -50,57 Chrts-Crafl Dealers - -- -...-....42 Draco............--.......................... 37 Marine Div., : . * Transmission Clinic... `Marine Way................--. 56 Dryland Marina ...45 Raritan ...V. J3B * Rodi 8oat Co-.-.l-.--....--..54- Saugatuck Yacht . .58 * Seaway Marine Sales................... 41 SkyWay Communications. ...52-53. Stage Coach Marine ................... 56' State Farm Insurance..................11 Toledo Beach Marina .... m o Evinrude ...................... --..Cov. 2 Fox River Marina, Inc- .........58 . Fun, Inc.................................... ....44 Galt! Boat Sales & Service, inc. ............................. 53 Gem Boat Sales <V Service, Inc...................... 57 Goldberg's Marine Distributors, Inc..................... -37 Robert P. Neesley . Turners of Little Current . ..........3 ..3 (Jntllite.............................. . -Li ..........47 S3 West Shore Marina......... Wightman's Yacht Sales .. 37 co : LAKELAND BOATING