PCBs and your Health: a Little Goes a Long Way
Compiled by the Chemical Weapons Working Group
April 2000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is prepared
to grant a "national" permit to the Army
to burn PCBs in chemical weapons incinerators.

Is it safe or necessary to burn PCBs, even in small amounts? No!

Read these facts and consider the alternatives.

What are PCBs?

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, reproductive and immune system disorders, and other illnesses.PCBs were first manufactured in 1929 and were used for decades by industry as insulation for electrical systems. These chemicals were discharged into the air, water and soil directly from industrial facilities, and are still entering the environment from sources such as landfills and other dump sites. Even though production of PCBs was stopped in the late 1970s due to its toxicity, up to 70% of manufactured PCBs may still remain in use or in the.

PCBs are not found "naturally" in the environment, but they are found everywhere in the environment. PCBs are known to exist all over the world because they can migrate through the air, water and the food chain, far from their original source.

How do PCBs affect human health?

Humans are exposed to PCBs primarily through the food we eat.Similar to other persistent chemicals, PCBs released into the air, water and soil eventually enter the food chain, where they accumulate in fatty tissues -- such as those in meat, fish and poultry. Children are most vulnerable to the effects of these toxic chemicals: infants are exposed to PCBs while in the womb through their mothers' blood, and later through their mothers' breastmilk.

You do not have to live near a PCB source to suffer health consequences.For example, Inuit peoples in remote northern Canada -- where no PCBs have ever been produced -- have body levels of PCBs 10 times higher than Canadians living in southern urban areas. This is because the Inuit diet consists primarily of high-fat sea mammals, in which PCBs and other persistent chemicals have accumulated.

Over the last 30 years, most of the research on the health effects of PCBs has focused on the immediate effects of PCB exposure (i.e. "chloracne," a skin disorder) and cancer. Studies of the effects of PCBs on animals all conclude that PCBs cause cancer, and research on human workers exposed to PCBs shows an association between these exposures and increased incidents of cancer and higher cancer mortality rates.

However, more recent studies are focusing on the non-cancer effects of PCB exposure, including developmental, reproductive, nerve system and immune system effects. A variety of studies from the past several years conclude that infants exposed to PCBs in the womb had poor developmental growth (e.g. slowed reflexes, motor skills, cognitive function), lower birth weight, stunted growth, lower IQ scores and numerous other disorders.

What level of exposure to PCBs is considered dangerous?

It only takes exposure to a tiny amount of PCBs to cause negative health effects.Due to the persistence of PCBs in the environment and the food chain, we all have PCBs in our bodies. Scientists estimate that the U.S. population has from less than 1 part per million (ppm) to more than 3 ppm in our body tissue. Research on mothers and infants' PCB exposure in North Carolina, Michigan and in the Netherlands show that such "normal" levels of PCBs may cause negative health effects. Given that PCBs accumulate in the food chain and in our bodies, and that we already have enough PCBs in our bodies to cause harm, there is no such thing as a "safe" level of additional exposures!

Is it safe to incinerate PCBs?

No! Incinerators release thousands of toxic chemicals through smokestack emissions, ash and other liquid and solid wastes.

During trial burns for PCBs destruction, the Army's chemical weapons incinerators in the Pacific and Utah did not destroy PCBs to the level required by federal environmental regulations. In Utah, the Armyu claimed that the low destruction efficiency of PCBs occurred because PCBs were present elsewhere in the incinerator equipment--although their own analysis of this theory turned up no additional sources of PCBs. Neither the Army nor EPA has yet proven that chemical weapons incinerators can effectively meet regulatory standards for PCBs destruction.

Even incinerators which operate within regulatory standards are not safe, because:

• 1) these standards allow the release into the air of toxic chemicals and assume that these chemicals will cause harm; and
  
• 2) these standards do not fully measure the amount of PCBs coming from a facility, either from air emissions or other emissions such as incinerator ash, brine or liquid waste.

Is an incinerator operating with unprotective air emissions standards for PCBs, and which will also emit large amounts of contaminated waste, really safe or efficient? No!

Although it is argued that the levels of PCBs being incinerated are small, studies show that the lower the concentration of PCBs being burned, the harder they are for an incinerator to destroy.

Can we get rid of PCBs without incinerating them?

Yes! Several technologies exist which can destroy PCBs more safely and with greater overall efficiency than incineration.Some of these non-incineration technologies are currently being demonstrated for the destruction of chemical warfare agents and munitions. Others are being used in the U.S. and other countries for disposal of industrial wastes, and could be adapted for chemical weapons disposal.

What you can do with this information:

• 1) Tell the EPA and your elected officials that based on what we know about the effects of PCBs on human health, it is not acceptable to burn PCBs.
• 2) Advocate the use of advanced non-incineration technologies for disposal of the chemical weapons stockpile -- including materials containing PCBs and other toxic chemicals.

Where to go for more information on PCBs:

For fact sheet sources, and for information on safe chemical weapons disposal, contact the Chemical Weapons Working Group at (606) 986-0868.

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