title: Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in 1,4-dichlorobenzene mothballs.
abstract: Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are globally recognized pollutant, an understanding of their resources as by-products in chemical industry is poorly investigated. This paper presents data from a study that was conducted in order to determine the extent of PCBs in 1,4-dichlorobenzene( p-DCB) mothballs. Total PCBs and dioxin-like PCBs were detected in five mothball samples. Total PCB concentrations ranged from 328 ng/g to 1798 ng/g, while the levels of WHO-TEQ were between 0.16 pg/g and 13 pg/g. Mean concentrations of total PCBs and WHO-TEQ in the samples were 724 ng/g and 3. 2 pg/g, respectively. The highest level of PCB congeners was that of trichlorinated biphenyls (537 ng/g), which maybe due to the relatively low chlorination in the process of p-DCB production. A mechanism of the formation of PCBs from polychlorinated benzene in the presence of chlorine is also suggested. The results suggested that re-estimation on the risk of p-DCB products, especially the products for daily use such as mothballs, is expected.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Wen-bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ming-hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Dong-sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xing-ru
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li-rong
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002722:Chlorobenzenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D007306:Insecticides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002722:Chlorobenzenes; D007306:Insecticides; C018511:4-dichlorobenzene; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls