Progress report summarizing the reef fish sampling, PCB - Earthjustice

including primates, conducted over a period of years that PCBs are also probable
human carcinogens. Studies of PCB effects on humans have been inconclusive but
do not mean that PCBs are safe. The National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health has also determined that PCBs are a potential occupational carcinogen.
The EPA states: “PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a variety of serious health
effects. PCBs have been shown to cause cancer and a number of serious non-cancer
health effects in animals, including effects on the immune system, reproductive
system, nervous system, and endocrine system. Studies in humans provide
supportive evidence for the potential carcinogenicity and non-carcinogenic effects of
PCBs. The different health effects of PCBs may be interrelated, as alterations in
one system may have significant implications for the other regulatory systems of
the body.” Additionally the types of PCBs likely to be bio-accumulated in fish
(particularly the fatty tissues since PCB are lipophilic) and bound in sediments are
the most potentially carcinogenic PCB mixtures. (EPA website, “Health Effects of
PCBs” http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pbcs/pubs/effects/htm.)
I (B) (4) Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) on Board Military Vessels
PCBs were among the materials of concern on military vessels whose keels were
laid before 1979. PCBs, first synthetically manufactured in 1929, were utilized in
many commercially produced manufacturing products. They were primarily used
on military ships as heat resistant fire retardants because of their nonflammability,
chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulating
properties. PCBs were also used as plasticizers and maintained flexibility in rubber
products like hatch gaskets, plastics etc. Potential PCB sources on military vessels
built prior to 1979 included thermal insulation material (fiberglass, felt, foam, and
cork), oil based paint, cable insulation, motor and hydraulic system oils,
transformers and capacitors, other miscellaneous electrical equipment (voltage
regulators, switches, electromagnets, etc); florescent light ballasts, caulking
materials, adhesives and tapes, and some plastics. The PCBs used in these
products were chemical mixtures such as the various Aroclors as discussed above
that were made up of a variety of individual chlorinated biphenyl components
(congeners).
SPARWAR (2006b) reported that in the late 1980’s through the late 1990’s, the
Naval Sea Systems Command PCB sampling program looked at a range of
decommissioned Naval vessels. Reported PCBs from suspect shipboard materials
were listed as Aroclors (1016, 1221, 1242, 1248, 1254, 1260, 1262 and 1268).
Aroclors 1242, 1254, 1260, 1262, and 1268 appeared to be the most prevalent.
Highest mean PCB concentrations came from Aroclors 1254, 1260 and 1268 in the
12 | P age