Workplace PCBs
Because Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic and persistent and appear in electrical equipment, it is advised to maintain caution. If PCBS are in your office or workplace, they may be in the insulating fluids in electrical equipment like transformers in power plants, industrial plants, telecommunications and utility lines. PCBs have a heavy liquid, oil-like consistency and are useful in industrial situations, but inadequate control procedures have been in place; and now, hundreds of millions of pounds of PCBs have already been improperly used and disposed of. Workplace exposure may mean inhalation of airborne PCB, or skin contact or absorption of PCBs. Short-term or acute health effects may mean skin, eye, and throat irritation, breathing difficulty, nausea and vomiting, loss of weight, or stomach pain. Long-term effects can include cancer.
Although OSHA has set no comprehensive regulations concerning PCB exposure, exposure limits have been defined.
Permissible exposure limits (PELs) for PCBs of 42% (concentration) at 1 milligram per cubic meter (mg/m(3) and PCBs of 54% (concentration) at 0.5 mg/m(3).
However, as the EPA classifies PCBS as human carcinogens, exposure should be avoided.
So it makes sense to test.
We test for PCBs.
