PCB: Detoxification of building
materials in DK
Presentation for EURITS d. 14 May 2012
Lars Gunnarsen
Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University
Polychlorinated biphenyl
PCB fundamentals
Sum 7 congeners: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 og 180
2 dioxin-like congeners: 77, 81, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 156, 157, 167, 169, og 189
All PCB congeners akkumulate in human bodies
105 og 118 has WHO TEF på 0,0001 and for 156 it is 5 times bigger
Highest TEF has nr. 126 with TEF equal 0,1
Vapor pressure of PCB 118 at 25 C is 8.974 × 10–6 mmHg
= 0.001196 Pa = 1.18 × 10-8 atm.
In air at 1,013 × 105 Pa (1 atm) this is equal to 12 ppb or 160 µg/m3
Occupational TLV is 0 µg/m3
The national Board of Health reccomends action limits set at 3 and 0,3 µg/m3 for
indoor air
Construction products
Indoor air
Surface Dust
Soil
Fø
r
19 190
0
00
-19
19
05 04
19 190
9
10
-19
19
15 14
19 191
9
20
-19
19
25 24
19 192
9
30
-19
19
35 34
19 193
9
40
-19
19
45 44
19 194
9
50
-19
19
55 54
19 195
9
60
-19
19
65 64
19 196
9
70
-19
19
75 74
19 197
9
80
-19
19
85 84
19 198
9
90
-19
19
95 94
-19
99
20
00
-
Building area (mio m 2 )
Bygningsbestand
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Opførelsesår
Erection
Year
1950 to 1976 where PCB containing sealant were on the marked
143 mill. m2 new buildings have been erected which is 37 % of the
total building stock of 389 mill. m2.
Have not got new windows since 1976
61 %
Have rubber-like inner sealants
59 %
Have rubber-like outer sealants
22 %
Length inner sealants per area
0,47 m/m2
Length inner sealants per area
0,47 m/m2
Some inofficial guestimates
Total remaining PCB in construction products
Mass primary PCB sources
20 x103 kg
6.6x106 kg
Mass secondary sources
3.4x109 kg
Temperature dependency of vapor pressure
PCB 28
0.7
EKSP(34,92 - 11,624*1000/(t + 273))
Vapor pressure (Pa)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
Temperature (oC)
Equation valid 40-55 oC
60
> 50 mg PCB/kg
Dangerous waste To be destructed at approved inceneration plant or
deposited underground (not possible in Denmark)
0,1 – 50 mg PCB/kg Not dangerous
waste
•Waste with PCB content of less than 1 mg/kg may
be deposited at depot for inert waste
•Waste with PCB content between 1 and 50 mg/kg,
may be deposited at depot for for mineral waste or
mixed waste
< 0,1 mg PCB/kg
Products for
reuse
May be reused according to other specific rules
after notification of municipal authorities
PCB exposure from indoor air and health risks in relation to recommendations from
National Board of Health
Recommendations are based on occupancy of buildings 24-7 for several years.
Action values for building occupancy.
> 3.000 ng PCB/m3 air
Highest level. Immediate action required.
Durable sollutions - could be evacuation of building - should
take place before 6 months.
300 – 3.000 ng PCB/m3 air
Intermediate level. An action plan required to after some time
assure indoor air concentrations below 300 ng PCB/m3 luft.
At 2.000 – 3.000 ng PCB/m3 it is recommended that a
maximum of one year may pas before a durable solution is
commenced.
At 300 – 2.000 ng PCB/m3 it is recommended that a
maximum of two years may pas before a durable solution is
commenced. Temporary alleviation measures should be
considered.
< 300 ng PCB/m3 air
Lowest level that does not increase the health risks.
Homepage of
the project
SBi.dk/pcb
(in Danish)
Projekt planning
1. år
F1. Planning
Litterature survey
F2. Laboratory tests
Field tests
Data analysis
F3. PCB instruction guide
Field tests
Data analysis
F5. Improved guide
2. år
3. år
4. år
Recent measurements
24 congeners included in the analysis: PCB-28, 52, 66, 74,
77, 81, 99, 101, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 138, 153, 156, 157,
167, 169, 170, 180, 183, 187 og 189.
(Dioxin-like in red)
Blood samples furthermore included congener number 69,
178, 182 og 190.
Sample summary
• Results from:
– 83 air samples (Birkhøj)
– 20 sealant samples (Birkhøj)
– 21 air samples (uncontaminated parts of Farum
Midtpunkt)
– Approx. 200 blood samples 100 from
contaminated and 100 from PCB free appartments
Sealant samples were taken by knife for single use after removal of temporary
sealing with aluminum tape and wodden panels.
Air samples were taken by
adsorption on XAD-2 and a
total sampling volume during
approx. 24 hours of approx.
2.7 m3.
Results, air
Birkhøj (n=83), PCBtot
• Average: 1030 ng/m3
• Interval: 168-3843 ng/m3
• 80 appa. > 300 ng/m3 ; 8 appa. > 2000 ng/m3 ; 1 appa. >3000 ng/m3
Øvrige (n=21),
• PCB > LOQ in 52%
• Average = 6.0 ng/m3 ; interval <LOQ – 254 ng/m3
• OBS! one appartment with high PCB-level. The occupant had lived
31 years in contaminated part and indoor air contamination from
household contents suspoected.
Resultats, sealants
• Average ∑24PCB: 100 817 mg/kg (187 – 221 667 mg/kg)
• Average PCBtot: 252 150 mg/kg (436 – 718 430 mg/kg)
6
Group C
Ar-1254
414E
414F 439E
410F
422E
PC 2 (23%)
4
2
Group A
0
Group B
406C
Group D
Ar-1232
410D 410E
413D
427A
401A
446D
444F
456F
448A
456A
435D 434D 435A
433C
-2
Ar-1242
-4
-10
-5
0
PC 1 (76%)
5
Air vs. selants
PCB-28 in air and sealant
PCB-52 in air and sealant
100000
PCB-52 in sealant (mg/kg)
PCB-28 in sealant (mg/kg)
10000
1000
100
10
10
100
1000
3
PCB-28 in air (ng/m )
10000
1000
100
10
10
100
1000
3
PCB-52 in air (ng/m )
• Good correlation for low-chlorinated (even intercorrelation)
• No correlation between air and sealants for highly-chlorinated
Sum of 24 measured congeners in indoor air (ng/m3)
Sum of 12 non-dioxinlike congeners
in indoor air (ng/m3)
Sum of 12 dioxinlike congeners
in indoor air (ng/m3)
,7
PCB 118 in plasma, ug/l
241
,6
240
,5
201
,4
219
103
165
127
,3
35
,2
94
79
3
273
41
250
75
,1
0,0
-,1
N=
134
Non-exposed
PCB exposure in apartment
139
Expose
20
15
10
5
PCB exposure
0
Exposed
-5
Non-exposed
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Number of years living in Farum Midtpunkt dwelling
Correlation coefficient 0.69 ; p<0.001 (Spearman); n = 154
12
10
8
6
PCB 28 in plasma, ug/l
Sum of 3 - 4 chlorine PCB in plasma, ug/l
25
4
2
0
0
PCB 28 in air of dwelling, ng/m3
100
200
300
PCB content in selants in contaminated part
PCB
congener
Number
Concentration, mg/kg
Average
Min
25 percentile Median
75 percentile Max
Sum 24
20
100817,4
187,0
4556,5
101040,0
168584,8
221677,0
Sum_DL
19
13472,3
29,4
1071,7
15836,8
22370,7
26382,3
Sum_NDL
20
87274,4
157,5
3465,9
80113,3
152273,9
206043,0
Total PCB (6)
20
252149,7
436,0
7005,2
165207,5
500091,3
718430,0
Total PCB
(6+1)
20
283017,0
511,6
9678,8
210992,5
538203,8
749330,0
PCB in indoor air in contaminated part
PCB
congener
Sum 24
Concentration, ng/m3
Average
Min
25 percentile
Median
75 percentile
Max
284,90
43,31
150,13
235,77
350,57
1060,02
3,21
0,18
1,20
2,19
3,53
16,53
281,68
43,10
146,96
233,73
349,21
1043,48
Total PCB (6)
1030,15
167,97
531,21
858,75
1333,83
3842,88
Total PCB
(6+1)
1038,90
167,95
534,55
861,95
1343,75
3888,30
Sum_DL1
Sum_NDL2
Questionnaire results
b) Dusting
a) Vacuuming
2000
2000
PCBtot, air (ng/m 3 )
PCBtot, air (ng/m 3 )
*
1500
1000
500
0
1500
1000
500
0
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less
(n=9)
(n=61)
(n=10)
(n=1)
(n=3)
(n=57)
(n=19)
(n=2)
d) Airing
2000
1500
1500
PCBtot, air (ng/m 3 )
PCBtot, air (ng/m 3 )
c) Floor washing
2000
1000
500
0
1000
500
0
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Less
(n=2)
(n=41)
(n=29)
(n=8)
(n=54)
(n=21)
(n=5)
(n=3)
Cleaning does help
Conclusions
There still is PCB in some buildings – maybe in approximately 10% of the
buildings from the relevant period
Old sealants with PCB, will still be a significant source of PCB in indoor air,
surface dust and the soil around the buildings. In rare cases this may lead to
health risks for the building occupants
PCB in dwellings leads to a significantly increased PCB contamination of building
occupants. For these people the dwelling causes by far the most PCB intake
Better ability to identify buildings with PCB is recommended
More efficient means of renovation of PCB contaminated buildings are
recommended
More rigorous waste hanling recommended
More reseach, innovation and consistency recommended