Environmental impact and human exposure to PCBs in Guiyu, an electronic waste recycling site in China.
PCB levels in fish (collected from local rivers), atmosphere and human milk samples have been studied to determine the exposure levels of PCBs for local residents and e-waste workers in Guiyu, a major electronic waste scrapping center in China. The source appointment and correlation analyses showed that homologue composition of PCBs in 7 species of fish were consistent and similar to commercial PCBs Aroclor 1248. PCB levels in air surrounding the open burning site were significantly higher than those in residential area. Inhalation exposure contributed 27% and 93% to the total body loadings (the sum of dietary and inhalation exposure) of the local residents, and e-waste workers engaged in open burning respectively. Total PCB concentrations in human milk ranged from N.D. to 57.6 ng/g lipid, with an average of 9.50 ng/g lipid. The present results indicated that commercial PCBs derived from e-waste recycling are major sources of PCBs accumulating in different environmental media, leading to the accumulation of high chlorinated biphenyls in human beings.
Xing
Guan Hua
GH
Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences, and Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Chan
Janet Kit Yan
JK
Leung
Anna Oi Wah
AO
Wu
Sheng Chun
SC
Wong
M H
MH
D000397:Air Pollution; D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004777:Environment; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D009035:Mothers; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*
D007220:Industrial Waste; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls