Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Testing
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of 209 manmade chemicals that have been produced since 1929. Since then around 2 million tonnes of PCBs have been produced, about 10% of which still remain in the environment today.
They are oily liquids or solids, clear to yellow in colour, with no smell or taste. They are very stable mixtures that are resistant to acid, alkali and extreme temperature and pressure and were used widely in electrical equipment like capacitors and transformers. Other uses include the use as coolant
fluids in electrical apparatus, carbonless copy paper and in heat transfer fluids.
Generally, PCBs are not very soluble in water, but readily soluble in fats. This solubility in fat explains why PCBs can build up in animal fat and along the food chain into humans.
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are one of a number of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are serious environmental pollutants and are banned in New Zealand under the HSNO Act. The NZ EPA has further details on their Hazardous Substances webpage.
Eurofins-ELS is accredited to perform PCB analysis in a wide range of matrices including potable and environmental waters, effluents, trade waste and soils and sludge. It is usual for laboratories to analyse samples for a subset of the total 209 compounds and to include a range of compounds to reflect this total.
The following is the list of 40 compounds performed at Eurofins-ELS. The individual names are very complicated so they are referred to as their congener number shown in bold.
