Document b5MGkJkxp2bz0qyaVGoKRzJ1g

Eli* (?rrt,!'!|rn Sfttd* ' GREEKSSOSO, n, c. D. 31.537. I y^y y4r#. it V.v J> k 4m *> c' WU RALEIGH (A?,1 -- A stale Official says large quant ities of PCBs were disposed of in city dumps and landfii;s with little eonrersi for their potential impact on public health defer* the danger of the toxic chemical was discovered in the lK0s. Robert Carter, stv.t chief water quality official, said strict safety rules for PC8 dumping were imposed by the chemical disposal industry about Id yy?rs aco. He d wove recent dispusal sites are probably safe. Carter said PCBs were discovered in the late 1800s and appeared in industry during the 1920s. "U tPCBi is in city iand fills., dumps and lots of places where industrial wastes of that nature arc dis posed of." Carter said Tuesday. 'TVs in printer s in*, solvents, paints, heal exchangers Wherever cities have dumped that sort of stuff, that's where they are now. Today's disposal guarded "The one hope is that since this material pretty well binds up in a soil column, it will pretty much stay where U is." he added. ` The location of most lendfills has been pretty well thought out, particularly in relation to water supplies." Some old dumps where PCBs are known to have been disposed of have been tested for possible le&kace. especially where it could threaten water supplies. He said no contamination has been found. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencv esti mates there are 449 million pounds of PCB in the na tion, with between 70 end 90 percent of it buried as industrial waste or in discarded equipment PCBs have been suspected of causing cancer and birth defects in laboratory animals, but tests indicate PCB doesn't cause cancer in humans, according to the Monsanto Chemical Corn., formerly the major manufac turer of the chemical. Monsanto stepped rnaVing PCBs in 1971. HONS 001589