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| Sunday, 8 May 2005 |
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Industrial waste with PCB - a serious health threat Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources warns there is a serious threat to human health and the environment from Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), which are often found in open storage of de-commissioned transformers. The Assistant Director Environment and Natural Resources Ministry Chandanie Panditharatne at a workshop on the 'Impact of open burning and elimination of the POPS' last week at the SLAAS, pointed out that under the 'Stockholm Convention' any material having a PCB concentration of above 50 ppm or 50 mg/kg is defined as containing PCB. PCBs are used in industrial applications mainly as coolants in transformers and dielectrics in capacitors. They are also used as flame retardants in paints and surface coatings, plasticisers in adhesives and sealing compounds for the construction industry. PCBs have had a documented history of adverse effects on wildlife and acutely exposed human populations. The main source of PCB exposure has been through food. In 1968, there had been a serious mass poisoning by the contamination of rice oil in Japan caused by a PCB leak from a compressor. Ten years later, 2000 people had been poisoned in Taiwan by a similar accident. Occupational exposure to PCB can cause skin irritations, chloracne, irritation of mucous membranes (eye and respiratory system) and liver disorders. She urged the general public to dispose and control the use of PCBs effectively, by identifying them accordingly in equipment. She recommended labelling and registration of PCB equipment and those equipment likely to contain PCB, in order to indicate to those handling them, the specific controls. The appropriate environmentally sound waste management systems should be devised and made available. Effective monitoring and reporting on the use, movement, sale and disposal of PCB equipment should also be in place, Chandanie Panditharatne added. (R.M) |
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