PCB Levels in Humans in an Area of PCB Transformer Recycling

PCB levels in environmental, food, and human samples were determined around a highly PCB-contaminated town (F town), a less contaminated town (P town), and a control town (DXG). There were significant differences in PCB concentrations in the intravenous blood of the mothers and their children living in F, P, and DXG sites. In F town, PCB concentrations in the blood of the mothers averaged 190 mu g/kg lipid, as compared to 97 mu g/kg lipid in the control site. PCB concentrations in the blood of boys and girls averaged 222 and 153 Kg/kg lipid, respectively, in F town. PCB concentrations in the umbilical cord blood averaged 566.8 and 168.2 mu g/kg lipid, respectively, in the more seriously (F town) and less seriously (P town) polluted sites. Concentrations in the fetal excreta of the newborns averaged 100.06 and 1.66 mu g/kg lipid, respectively, in these sites. PCBs were detected in surface water, underground water, soil, and vegetables, and have spread in a circumference of 30 km from the PCB source and have accumulated in the food chains from surface water to fish and duck eggs and from soil to chickens and pigs. The inhabitants have taken in PCBs through these foods since the 1970s. The results implicate the e-waste recycling operations as having caused elevated PCB levels in the environment and in humans. The elevated exposure levels may have health implications for the next generation.