US EPA

1518989 

Technical Report 

Generating the right data: Determination of aroclors versus
PCB congeners 

Narquis, CT; Hyatt, JE 

2007 

Fluor Hanford, Richland, WA.; Department of Energy, Washington, DC. 

HNF-34789-FP 

13 

English 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a major environmental concern due to their ubiquity and tendency to bio-accumulate, as well as their persistence and toxicity. As the cleanup of waste and contaminated soil progresses at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites, the costs for accurate PCB data are increasing. PCBs are actually a broad name for a group of 209 individual compounds known as congeners. PCBs were originally produced in the United States as specific mixtures of congeners known as Aroclors'. PCBs can be analyzed and quantified eitheras Aroclor mixtures or as individual congeners. Aroclor analysis, which is the more common analytical method applied to PCBs. has been in use for decades, and in general, most cleanup regulations are based on totalPCB concentrations using Aroclor analyses. Congener analysis is relatively new to environmental cleanup and restoration due to both technical issues and associated cost. The benefits of congener analysis are that it allows a more direct analysis of the risk of the PCBs. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified twelve specific congenersas dioxin-like with toxicity ranging from 0.00003 to 0.1 times the standard 2,3,7.8-Tetrachlor odibenzo-p-dioxin (2.3.7.8-TCDD) toxicity. This paper defines Aroclors and congeners and compares the current application and usefulness of the two analytical methods for environmental restoration and cleanup. A strategy for the best use of the two methods to optimize overall characterization cost is presented. As part of the strategy. a method using the data from Aroclor analyses to calculate 2,3,7,8-TCDD toxicity equivalent concentrations is also presented. 

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