Detecting A New Pcb In Chicago Air

摘要

Although banned some 30 years ago, PCB compounds are being discovered in urban ambient air. Non-Aroclor PCB (3,3'-dichlorobi-phenyl), or PCB11, discovered in a recent study published in ES&T (2008, 42 [21], 7873-7877), is considered an "inadvertent PCB," says Keri Hornbuckle of the University of Iowa, a coauthor of the new study. PCB 11 was not one of the congeners manufactured by Monsanto Chemical Co., and it has been regularly reported as nondetectable in Monsanto's mixtures, Hornbuckle says.rn"I think it is a tremendous finding," says Bob Herrick of the department of environmental health at Harvard University. "Most people have never seen anything published about this congener," he adds. "The paper shows evidence of something that we didn't see [before]," says Ann Casey, senior chemist with Northeast Analytical, Inc.