Document pmgkLKakJge5kjqzYY94yBjED

J 40 THE HARTrr "B TIMES; Tnursa'ay, July 31, 1969 *-> -=-rrf;^?x-%7.i:f^ ' ,i* s t & i' y NEW HAVEN - PolychlorInal biphenals m ly prove to be an entirely new 1 hreat to man kind -- aggraviting present problems of pi blic concern over pollution, persistent pesti cides and population explosion. The long-term effects of this class of chemical com pounds simply is not yet known. But they have been reported to be toxic. They have been found in laboratory samples of fish and wildlife beiig tested for residues of ch orinated hydrocarbon pesticides such as DDT and diddrin. `Chemists i. s i n g gas chromatography in these tests have reported uniden tified peaks on their graphs as early as 1366." said Lloyd Keirstead, a i analytical chemist at the Connecticut Agriculture Ex) eriment Sta tion here. "One chemist, after testing samples of bird:, simply call ed them avian : ubstances." The gas chromatograph is a sensitive laboratory in strument that produces a moving graph like a lie detector. Different substances TTT-----% We?5SB iI By Bill Clede \v- cause peaks in the graph at different points. These unidentiTie I peaks Came very near where persis tent pesticides like T DT show on the graph. According to some experts, this in terference could have caused some confusion in pesticide testing prior to 1963. ' Since they were identified as polychlorinated opinion that, they were in troduced through `natural' sources." . PCBs have many and varied industrial ises- in cluding the manufatcure of plastics^ and elect! ical in sulators*. But they are not us ed as pesticides. "As analytical techniques become more soph.sticated, -we find more ard more "'7------ *rfa Ma ? r materials in our fish, wddlife and waters," Keirstead ad ded. . What this might me;n` in terms of pollution of ou * en vironment simply has not been determined. The question will surely ex- . pand the scope of research, experts agree, but there A'on't be any quick and i eady answers. b i p h e n a 1 s -- P C B s for short--by a Swedish scientist, findings have been rep >rted also in England, Holland and California. New tests are under way now to determine the pro- able source of PCBs in fish samples tested at the. Con-, n e c t i c u t Agriculture Ex periment Station. New'. samples are 1 eing taken from waters previcusly tested. Some are being held in sterile glass bottles. O'hers are being wrapped in pi istic bags as they were befon. "In all good conscience -we want to make sure the fir ding of PCBs . is not a matte- of their being soaked up : rom the plastic,'' Keirstead ex plained. "Frankly, it's my | .; r}I I f i ! i;? DSW 433781 STLCOPCB4086889