A review of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution in indoor air environment

Figures & data

Table 1. Total PCBs production as reported in the literature (in tons).

Manufacturer	Country	Producing Time	Total (t)	Percent (%)
Monsanto	United States	1930–1977	641,246	48.4
Bayer AG	West Germany	1930–1983	159,062	l2
orgsteklo	Former Soviet Union	1939–1990	141,800	10.7
Prodelec	France	1930–1984	134,654	10.2
Monsanto	United Kingdom	1954–1977	66,542	5
Kanegafuchi	Japan	1954–1972	56,326	4.2
orgsintez	Former Soviet Union	1972–1993	32,000	2.4
Caffaro	Italy	1958–1983	31,092	2.3
S.A.Cros	Spain	1955–1984	29,012	2.2
Chemko	Czechoslovakia	1959–1984	21,482	1.6
Xi An	China	1960–1979	8,000	0.6
Mitsubishi	Japan	1969–1972	2,461	0.2
Electrochemical Company	Poland	1966–1970	1,000	<0.1
Zaklady Azotowe	Poland	1974–1977	679	<0.1
Geneva Industries	United States	1971–1973	454	<0.1
Total	Whole world	1930–1993	1,325,810	100

Figure 1. Indoor air PCBs papers published.

Figure 2. Schematic of high-volume active air sampler.

Figure 3. Schematic of PUF disks passive air sampler.

Table 2. Indoor air PCBs concentrations of urban area in different countries.

Site	Number of Congeners	Samples Type	Concentration (pg m^−3)	Remark
Milwaukee (Wethington and Hornbuckle, 2005)	88	Gas Particle	1900 ± 780 50 ± 20	Particulate-phase PCBs account for less than 5% of the total atmospheric concentration.
Yokohama (Kim and Masunaga, 2005)	41	Gas+Particle	62~250	The ratios of tetra-CBs and penta-CBs to the total PCBs concentrations were largest.
Lzmir (Cetin et al., 2007)	41	Gas+Particle	winter (847 ± 610) summer (314 ± 129)	The average gas-phase concentration was about 87% of the total atmospheric PCBs.
Bursa (Sıddık Cindoruk and Tasdemir, 2007)	37	Gas+Particle	492 ± 189	The particulate-phase PCBs accounted for 15% of the total PCBs concentrations.
Lowa (Persoon and Hornbuckle, 2009)	37	Gas+Particle	50~10500	The samples were collected from two laboratories.
New York (Fitzgerald et al., 2011)	12	Gas+Particle	600~233000	The congener with the highest average concentration was PCB-28.
Germany (Don) (Gabrio et al., 2000)	6	Gas+Particle	36200~317400	In Don and Wai the low chlorinated PCB-28 and -52 prevailed and contributed almost 90% to the sum of the six indicator congeners. In Neu the medium chlorinated PCB dominated.
Germany (Wai) (Gabrio et al., 2000)	6	Gas+Particle	612000~2131000
Germany (Neu) (Gabrio et al., 2000)	6	Gas+Particle	15400~202500

Table 3. Indoor air PCBs concentrations of industrial area in different countries.

Site	Number of Congeners	Samples Type	Concentration (pg m^−3)	Remark
Denmark (Frederiksen et al., 2012)	24	Gas+ Particle	168,000–3,843,000	The samples were collected from apartments with PCB-containing sealants.
Lzmir (Cetin et al., 2007)	36	Gas+ Particle	Winter (1371 ± 642) Summer (3136 ± 824)	The average gas-phase concentration was about 87% of the total atmospheric PCB.
Gui Yu (Xing et al., 2009)	34	Gas Particle	4700 ± 4200 14,800 ± 7900	The sampling sites were beside an electronic waste recycling area.
Pohang (Jin et al., 2011)	27	Gas+ Particle	37–104,048	Air samples were collected from 44 sites related to PCB-containing products or wastes.

Wethington, D.M., and K.C. Hornbuckle. 2005. Milwaukee, WI, as a source of atmospheric PCBs to Lake Michigan. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39(1): 57–63. doi:10.1021/es048902d

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Kim, K.-S., and S. Masunaga. 2005. Behavior and source characteristic of PCBS in urban ambient air of Yokohama, Japan. Environ. Pollut. 138(2): 290–98. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2005.03.011

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Cetin, B., S. Yatkin, A. Bayram, and M. Odabasi. 2007. Ambient concentrations and source apportionment of PCBs and trace elements around an industrial area in Izmir, Turkey. Chemosphere 69(8): 1267–77. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.05.064

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Sıddık Cindoruk, S., and Y. Tasdemir. 2007. Characterization of gas/particle concentrations and partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) measured in an urban site of Turkey. Environ. Pollut. 148(1): 325–33. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.10.018

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Xing, G.H., J.K.Y. Chan, A.O.W. Leung, S.C. Wu, and M.H. Wong. 2009. Environmental impact and human exposure to PCBs in Guiyu, an electronic waste recycling site in China. Environ. Int. 35(1): 76–82. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2008.07.025

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Jin, G.-Z., M.-L. Fang, J.-H. Kang, H. Park, S.-H. Lee, and Y.-S. Chang. 2011. Monitoring of PCBs at facilities related with PCB-containing products and wastes in South Korea. J. Hazard. Mater. 196: 295–301. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.09.030

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