![]() ![]() Other toxic effects such as endocrine disruption (notably blocking of thyroid system functioning) and neurotoxicity are known. ![]() Some PCBs share a structural similarity and toxic mode of action with dioxins. Moreover, because of their use as a coolant in electric transformers, PCBs still persist in built environments. Many rivers and buildings, including schools, parks, and other sites, are contaminated with PCBs and there has been contamination of food supplies with the substances. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PCBs cause cancer in animals and are probable human carcinogens. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) rendered PCBs as definite carcinogens in humans. With the discovery of PCBs' environmental toxicity, and classification as persistent organic pollutants, their production was banned by United States federal law on January 1, 1978, under Title 15 U.S.Code 2605(e) Polychlorinated biphenyls, in subsection (2)(A) established that after January 1, 1978, "no person may manufacture, process or distribute in commerce or use any PCB in any manner other than in a totally enclosed manner (.)." A regulation that also authorizes the EPA to regulate PCBs disposal. īecause of their longevity, PCBs are still widely in use, even though their manufacture has declined drastically since the 1960s, when a host of problems were identified. PCBs are organochlorine compounds with the formula C 12 H 10− x Cl x they were once widely used in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper, as heat transfer fluids, and as dielectric and coolant fluids for electrical equipment. ![]() Polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976 and internationally by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001. Chemical compound PCB warning label on a power transformer known to contain PCBs ![]()
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