Polychlorinated biphenyls (Pcbs) in food

The universal presence and toxicity of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) poses a threat to the environment and human health. They are disturbingly widespread in the ecosystem, including human adipose tissue, human milk, and even brain and liver of small children. Paradoxically, although they have been in commercial use since the last 40 years, they were reported in environmental samples only very recently.

It is interesting to note that the properties which make them industrially indispensable are the same properties which cause them to persist in the environment. Their enormous commercial uses include incorporation in adhesives, paints, varnishes, printing inks, elastomeres, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, liquid seals, flexible packaging, heat transfer fluids, fire retardants, carbonless reproducing papers, and many others. This also indicates the numerous ways by which they can gain access to the environment and marine food chains, as well as food products.

Mass‐scale poisoning and contamination resulted in the seizure, withdrawal, or both of large numbers of food products in the United States and other countries. Their toxicity to man results in distinct effects on the liver and skin, proving fatal on intense exposure. The FDA imposed interim temporary tolerances to limit human exposure from contaminated foods. Further research is in active progress to overcome the potential threat caused by these ubiquitous industrial contaminants. All these aspects are critically evaluated.