DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2001.11.101 --- Although PCB in caulking materials has been forbidden
for many years in most of Europe, including Denmark, there
has been continued interest to measure PCB levels in the air of
contaminated buildings and blood of the occupants (Mengon
and Schlatter 1993, Fromme et al. 1996, Ewers et al. 1998,
Currado and Harrad 1998, Gabrio et al. 2000). The relatively
low priority for investigations of this contamination is probably
due to the small quantities inhaled compared to exposure
via food, and the rapid metabolism of the most volatile congeners
demonstrated by low concentrations of all congeners in the
blood of exposed persons (Ewers et al. 1998, Gabrio et al. 2000).
There is, however, evidence that PCB containing caulking materials
have been used even during the 90s (Fromme et al. 1996).
In Denmark, it is estimated that 75 t PCB is still in buildings
(Organization of Sealant Branch´s Manufacturers and Distributors
2000). During an investigation of dust from buildings with
excessive microbial growth (including 35 rooms from 9 buildings),
the analysis of semivolatile compounds by thermal desorption-
GC/MS of samples from a single building surprisingly
revealed large amounts of PCBs containing 3,4 and 5 chlorine
atoms, 10–20 times the amounts found in samples from other
buildings. Extraction of the dust by SFE followed by GC/ECD
analysis for 12 PCB congeners showed that there was ~ 20 times
the total PCB concentrations in dust from the polluted building
compared to the levels in the other buildings. Subsequent
headspace analysis of caulking material from the polluted building
revealed this to be the source. Shelf dust functions as a passive
sampling medium and, thus, can be used as a screening
method to detect PCB and other semivolatile pollution indoors. |
