Category Archives: PCBs in Schools
PCBs in Peabody, MA Schools – A Rational Perspective
It was refreshing to read this article in The Salem News last week describing how Superintendent Herb Levine and school committee board member Beverley Anne Griffin Dunne were taking a rational approach to evaluating risks from PCBs in schools. It’s … Continue reading
PCBs: Aroclors, Homologs and Congeners
With PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) being more in the news, you may hear the terms “Aroclors”, “homologs” and “congeners” used to describe the different ways that PCBs are measured. Measuring the concentration of PCBs gets complicated because there are actually 209 … Continue reading
PCBs in School: EPA’s Safe Level 2.0
In my first post about the EPA Safe Level for PCBs in school air, I described how the health effects these safe levels protect against include: swollen red eyes, excessive discharge from the oil glands in the eyes, irregular growth … Continue reading
PCBs in Schools: EPA’s Safe Level 1.0
The issue of PCBs in schools is moving its way to the front burner of environmental concerns. The reason that PCBs are present in many schools is that they were an ingredient in a number of building materials between about … Continue reading
Does Breathing PCBs have the Same Effects as Ingesting Them?
In schools and other buildings where there is concern about exposures to PCBs, inhalation of contaminated air is usually the exposure pathway of greatest concern. However, few, if any, laboratory studies have specifically considered whether the inhalation of PCBs results … Continue reading
Coplanar PCBs – What are they about?
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are an environmental contaminant in the news because they have been discovered in schools and other buildings. PCBs are actually a mixture of many different similar chemicals; there are actually 209 chemically different chlorinated biphenyls that together … Continue reading
PCBs in Schools: Westport, Mass 3.1
The seaside town of Westport Massachusetts must be getting anxious to wrap-up its experience with PCBs in schools. Cleanup budgets have been exceeded, school opened late, and somehow cleanup goals have not been met. Children, teachers and other staff are … Continue reading
PCBs: Do they Cause or Prevent Cancer?
A funny thing happened on my way to the UMass Soils Conference this year, I discovered that PCBs may prevent cancer. I know you may think I’m a wacko apologist for the chemical industry, but I’m not. Read on. While … Continue reading
PCBs and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Aroclor 1254 was the PCB mixture most commonly used in building materials, based on my personal experience reviewing test results. Recently, as I was digesting data and researching literature to prepare for my UMass Soils Conference presentation this fall, I … Continue reading
PCBs: So Many Congeners, So Little Time
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) get a lot of press as a hazardous contaminant, but few people realize that PCBs are actually a mixture of up to 209 different chemicals. Each of these individual chemicals is referred to by chemists as a … Continue reading
