are pcb's dangerous ?

P

programmerforhire

Guest
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.
 
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.



Yes PCB is a chemical.
Click to expand...
PCB = poly-chlorinated biphenyls

Nasty stuff.

Do a web search.

Jim
 
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.
Click to expand...
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) (sorry for the wrap)

http://environment.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%
2Fwww.atsdr.cdc.gov%2Ftoxprofiles%2Fphs17.html

--
Keith
 
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
"programmerforhire" <programmerforhire@btinternet.com> wrote:

Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.
Click to expand...
"PCB" in this particular case equals "(P)oly(C)hlorinated(B)iphenyls" -
Some *SEVERELY* nasty toxic crap that, before we figured out it was bad
news, was heavily used in a lot of things like high-voltage transformer
and capacitor oils. Once it was figured out how bad it actually is to
have anywhere near anything that remotely resembles "alive", it was
outright banned in many countries.

About that time, disposal of the stuff was changed from the usual "Well
duh... just dump it someplace" to "OK, you say you've got a pint of
PCB-tainted oil? No problem. You just need to fill out these 87 pages of
forms, in triplicate, twice, staple one set to your forehead, tape
another to the jar, mail one set to the EPA, file the fourth set for the
next 23 years, deposit a 5th set with your local hazardous wate board,
and keep the 6th set in your hand at all times until the stuff is gone.
Once you've completed that, you're required to build or rent a 37
million dollar airtight incinerator that allows nothing but CO2 and
water to escape, hire 39 legal consultants, buy 14 billion dollars worth
of liability insurance, pay the wages of 19 EPA advisors, sumbit to and
pay for weekly groundwater tests to be conducted randomly at sites
located anywhere within a 40 mile radius of the location where the
container of waste oil is stored, pay for any cleanup of any detected
residue, and live with an EPA inspector grafted to your hip for the next
10 years. Only THEN may you file an application for a permit to dispose
of the stuff."

And the worst part is, the stuff actually IS bad enough to warrant such
overkill :(

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html>
 
In article <bp0tcv$5mv$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...

so why do these ships contain this chemical, what do they do with it ?
Click to expand...
Probably in some of the power transformers and anywhere else a
dielectric oil was used for cooling.

The best way to get rid of it is to burn it. Supposibly it renders it
harmless. I know locally it has been blended with fuel oil and used to
heat road asphalt.


Jim
 
so why do these ships contain this chemical, what do they do with it ?

"James Beck" <jim@reallykillersystems_INVALID_.com> wrote in message news:MPG.1a1db999d9fd5269898ee@news.east.earthlink.net...
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.



Yes PCB is a chemical.
PCB = poly-chlorinated biphenyls

Nasty stuff.

Do a web search.

Jim
Click to expand...
 
thanks, and thanks to keith for the very very useful link.

Igonorance Is A Handicap

"Don Bruder" <dakidd@sonic.net> wrote in message news:_ESsb.6335$Wy2.86690@typhoon.sonic.net...
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
"programmerforhire" <programmerforhire@btinternet.com> wrote:

Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.



"PCB" in this particular case equals "(P)oly(C)hlorinated(B)iphenyls" -
Some *SEVERELY* nasty toxic crap that, before we figured out it was bad
news, was heavily used in a lot of things like high-voltage transformer
and capacitor oils. Once it was figured out how bad it actually is to
have anywhere near anything that remotely resembles "alive", it was
outright banned in many countries.

About that time, disposal of the stuff was changed from the usual "Well
duh... just dump it someplace" to "OK, you say you've got a pint of
PCB-tainted oil? No problem. You just need to fill out these 87 pages of
forms, in triplicate, twice, staple one set to your forehead, tape
another to the jar, mail one set to the EPA, file the fourth set for the
next 23 years, deposit a 5th set with your local hazardous wate board,
and keep the 6th set in your hand at all times until the stuff is gone.
Once you've completed that, you're required to build or rent a 37
million dollar airtight incinerator that allows nothing but CO2 and
water to escape, hire 39 legal consultants, buy 14 billion dollars worth
of liability insurance, pay the wages of 19 EPA advisors, sumbit to and
pay for weekly groundwater tests to be conducted randomly at sites
located anywhere within a 40 mile radius of the location where the
container of waste oil is stored, pay for any cleanup of any detected
residue, and live with an EPA inspector grafted to your hip for the next
10 years. Only THEN may you file an application for a permit to dispose
of the stuff."

And the worst part is, the stuff actually IS bad enough to warrant such
overkill :(

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html
Click to expand...
 
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com mentioned...
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
Click to expand...
PCBs stands for polychlorinated biphenyls. I forget the name of the
movie but Ron Howard starred in it, about a farmer that had to kill
all his cattle because the cattle feed was polluted with PCBs. The
stuff has been banned for a long time, but it was used in oil cooled
transformers and other electrical equipment, and so is still around in
many places. Locally, a transformer on a power pole blew out and
splattered the stuff all over the people's lawm. Because of the PCBs,
the fire dept had to scoop up and dispose of all the grass and dirt
around the pole. It gets into your body and causes all sorts of
problems.

rex.
Click to expand...

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
In article <_ESsb.6335$Wy2.86690@typhoon.sonic.net>, dakidd@sonic.net
mentioned...
In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
"programmerforhire" <programmerforhire@btinternet.com> wrote:

Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?
rex.



"PCB" in this particular case equals "(P)oly(C)hlorinated(B)iphenyls" -
Some *SEVERELY* nasty toxic crap that, before we figured out it was bad
news, was heavily used in a lot of things like high-voltage transformer
and capacitor oils. Once it was figured out how bad it actually is to
have anywhere near anything that remotely resembles "alive", it was
outright banned in many countries.
[snip]
And the worst part is, the stuff actually IS bad enough to warrant such
overkill :(
Click to expand...
According to the URL given in the other followup,
http://environment.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2F
www.atsdr.cdc.gov%2Ftoxprofiles%2Fphs17.html
It's not so much how bad it is, but how persistent it is in the
environment. Like other compounds containing clhorine, it breaks down
very slowly and the amount in the enviromnent has been building up
steadily. Like it says, everyone in industrialized countries has some
of it in their bodies. And like is says, it's probably carcinogenic,
but there are other things far worse. since they are similar to
hormones, they cause some strange effects in the body. I didn't say
they weren't bad, I am saying that they're already there, so you can't
do much about it to get rid of them. Except die. :p




--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
In article <MPG.1a1fe7681da0433f989924@news.dslextreme.com>,
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com>
wrote:

In article <bp0qge$t5l$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com mentioned...
Has anyone heard the news item about the ships which were sent
from the u.s. to the u.k. for decomission and cause some pretest
due to the fact that it contains 'asbestos and pcb`s '.
I new asbestos was dangerous, but since when are pcb's
dangerous, or is there some other kind of chemical with the same
name ?

PCBs stands for polychlorinated biphenyls. I forget the name of the
movie but Ron Howard starred in it, about a farmer that had to kill
all his cattle because the cattle feed was polluted with PCBs.
Click to expand...
BZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

Sorry, Watty, old bean, but that's an incorrect response.

That movie you mention (whose title I also can't recall... "Bitter
Harvest" is coming to mind, but I'd bet that's *WAY* wrong) was about
the mid-to-late 70's incident where a bulk-truck that was supposed to be
loaded with vitamin and mineral supplement for use in mixing animal feed
somehow (to this day, I haven't heard a coherent explanation for it) got
loaded with *PBB* - Polybrominated Bipheynl - a flame-retardent that's a
close chemical cousin of PCB, and was (then) frequently used on kids'
pajamas, furniture, and draperies, among other things - and then got
dumped into the Michigan Farm Bureau's main supply bunk, where it got
stirred into cattle and chicken feed, most of which got shipped out and
used across the state (and to a much lesser extent, into Wisconsin and
Ohio) before anyone had any idea anything was wrong.

The resulting mess essentially wiped out Michigan's beef and dairy
industry, and had a severe impact on poultry as well.

I remember it well... I grew up in Northern Michigan, and it's hard to
forget the images (seen over and over on the TV news every night, later,
in the movie which you're talking about, and first-hand with my own
glassy little peepers) of farmers watching Michigan National Guard units
digging trenches in their fields, herding what was left of their stock
into them, then gassing or machine-gunning them by the hundreds and
filling in the hole. And I'll cheerfully call *ANYONE* who wants to
claim that such things didn't happen a liar to their face... I watched
it happen with my own two eyes just outside Petoskey. And Traverse City.
And Charlevoix. And I have *NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER* that similar scenes
could be found happening all over the state during those days. More than
one of those farmers sucked off a shotgun afterwards, unable to live
with the fact that their entire life's work, and in some cases, several
generations worth of family effort, had to be destroyed due to
somebody's screwup at a feed mill they'd never even laid eyes on, and
wouldn't have recognized if they'd been taken on a guided tour.

--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net <--- Preferred Email - SpamAssassinated.
Hate SPAM? See <http://www.spamassassin.org> for some seriously great info.
I will choose a path that's clear: I will choose Free Will! - N. Peart
Fly trap info pages: <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/Horses/FlyTrap/index.html>
 
James Beck wrote:
In article <bp0tcv$5mv$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...

so why do these ships contain this chemical, what do they do with it ?


Probably in some of the power transformers and anywhere else a
dielectric oil was used for cooling.

The best way to get rid of it is to burn it. Supposibly it renders it
harmless. I know locally it has been blended with fuel oil and used to
heat road asphalt.

Jim
Click to expand...
AFIK the burning of PCBs has to be above certain temperature in
order to safely destroy the chemical. PCBs were used I believe
because they enhanced the heat dissipation characteristics of the
oil used in power transformers etc. There was quite a fuss in
Canada about disposing of it safely.
Some abandoned DEW Distant Early Warning radar sites up north and
other scrapped Cold War defence installations were found to have
excessive amounts of such substances as PCBs etc. the long term
dangers (cancer causing for PCBs?) were not known or acknowledged
back then!
 
"Terry" <tsanford@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3FB6F342.EBBC5278@nf.sympatico.ca...
James Beck wrote:

In article <bp0tcv$5mv$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...

so why do these ships contain this chemical, what do they do with it ?


Probably in some of the power transformers and anywhere else a
dielectric oil was used for cooling.

The best way to get rid of it is to burn it. Supposibly it renders it
harmless. I know locally it has been blended with fuel oil and used to
heat road asphalt.

Jim

AFIK the burning of PCBs has to be above certain temperature in
order to safely destroy the chemical. PCBs were used I believe
because they enhanced the heat dissipation characteristics of the
oil used in power transformers etc. There was quite a fuss in
Canada about disposing of it safely.
Some abandoned DEW Distant Early Warning radar sites up north and
other scrapped Cold War defence installations were found to have
excessive amounts of such substances as PCBs etc. the long term
dangers (cancer causing for PCBs?) were not known or acknowledged
back then!
---------
Click to expand...
PCB's got a bad name originally because they were present in a situation in
Japan, way back when. However what did not hit the news was that in that
case there were known carcinogens present. The bad name persisted. However,
as it now stands, the PCB's have been cleared (?) of this but are presumed
to be a factor in other nasty effects. Note that many linemen used PCB oils
to clean their hands after doing dirty work- there seems to be no record of
adverse effects. They are a poor substitute for salad oils - taste isn't
good but the harm of ingestion is questionable.

PCB's can be destroyed by burning- at a high enough temperature and there is
a facility in Alberta, Canada which can do this. Simly throwing it in the
fire may cause problems due to breakdown products which might be nasty.
My own opinion, right or wrong, is that PCB's have a lot worse press than
they deserve. We have a lot worse stuff around that we ignore.
--
Don Kelly
dhky@peeshaw.ca
remove the urine to answer
 
Don Kelly wrote:
"Terry" <tsanford@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3FB6F342.EBBC5278@nf.sympatico.ca...
James Beck wrote:

In article <bp0tcv$5mv$1@sparta.btinternet.com>,
programmerforhire@btinternet.com says...

so why do these ships contain this chemical, what do they do with it ?


Probably in some of the power transformers and anywhere else a
dielectric oil was used for cooling.

The best way to get rid of it is to burn it. Supposibly it renders it
harmless. I know locally it has been blended with fuel oil and used to
heat road asphalt.

Jim

AFIK the burning of PCBs has to be above certain temperature in
order to safely destroy the chemical. PCBs were used I believe
because they enhanced the heat dissipation characteristics of the
oil used in power transformers etc. There was quite a fuss in
Canada about disposing of it safely.
Some abandoned DEW Distant Early Warning radar sites up north and
other scrapped Cold War defence installations were found to have
excessive amounts of such substances as PCBs etc. the long term
dangers (cancer causing for PCBs?) were not known or acknowledged
back then!
---------
PCB's got a bad name originally because they were present in a situation in
Japan, way back when. However what did not hit the news was that in that
case there were known carcinogens present. The bad name persisted. However,
as it now stands, the PCB's have been cleared (?) of this but are presumed
to be a factor in other nasty effects. Note that many linemen used PCB oils
to clean their hands after doing dirty work- there seems to be no record of
adverse effects. They are a poor substitute for salad oils - taste isn't
good but the harm of ingestion is questionable.

PCB's can be destroyed by burning- at a high enough temperature and there is
a facility in Alberta, Canada which can do this. Simly throwing it in the
fire may cause problems due to breakdown products which might be nasty.
My own opinion, right or wrong, is that PCB's have a lot worse press than
they deserve. We have a lot worse stuff around that we ignore.
--
Don Kelly
dhky@peeshaw.ca
remove the urine to answer
Click to expand...
I remember seeing trucks spraying used transformer oil on the dirt
roads in Ohio state parks in the late '60s and early '70s. I was told
the electric companies "donated" the used oil to the state, and I always
wondered if it was tested for PCBs before it was sprayed all over the
place.
--


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 05:52:04 +0000, Don Kelly wrote:

PCB's can be destroyed by burning- at a high enough temperature and there
is a facility in Alberta, Canada which can do this. Simly throwing it in
the fire may cause problems due to breakdown products which might be
nasty.
Click to expand...
AIUI, that's the problem. Burning at too low a temperature releases
combustion products (dioxins, etc.) that are more toxic than the PCBs
themselves. ISTR that there is an office building somewhere that had a
substation fire in the basement, and the PCB combustion products got into
the ventilation system. The building had to be sealed, and will probably
remain so for a long time.

--
Then there's duct tape ...
(Garrison Keillor)
nofr@sbhevre.pbzchyvax.pb.hx
 
Don Kelly wrote:

PCB's got a bad name originally because they were present in a situation in
Japan, way back when. However what did not hit the news was that in that
case there were known carcinogens present. The bad name persisted. However,
as it now stands, the PCB's have been cleared (?) of this but are presumed
to be a factor in other nasty effects. Note that many linemen used PCB oils
to clean their hands after doing dirty work- there seems to be no record of
adverse effects. They are a poor substitute for salad oils - taste isn't
good but the harm of ingestion is questionable.

PCB's can be destroyed by burning- at a high enough temperature and there is
a facility in Alberta, Canada which can do this. Simly throwing it in the
fire may cause problems due to breakdown products which might be nasty.
My own opinion, right or wrong, is that PCB's have a lot worse press than
they deserve. We have a lot worse stuff around that we ignore.
Click to expand...

PCB's were used originally because they resited high voltages well and
have a good dielectricity constant (meaning you can build capacitors
with high capacitance values, high voltage specification and small foot
prints). Also they are fire retardant, so can be used in equipment that
gets hot (TV sets, power transformers and the like).

They also have low *acute* toxicity, so they did not red-flag with the
safety tests in use in the 50s and 60s.

Unfortunately they have a couple of properties that make them a very big
pain very low down in the neck: They are highly carcinogenic, live
almost for ever once released into the environment (accumulating an
adipose tissue and mothers milk) and upon improper incineration create a
compound with the ominous name Tetrachlorodibenzodioxine, considered one
of the most toxic compounds known to man (known to lay persons as
"Seveso-poisson", after a city in Italy that got polluted with the stuff
when a chemical plant blew up some 30 years back). As a general rule,
any organic compound containing chlorine or bromine is bad news indeed
for the environment.

For those reasons the use of this material was banned many years ago,
but it can still be found in old equipment (like the ships the OP
mentioned). Those equipment need to be carefully dismanteled, the PCBs
removed and then incinerated in specialised plants with appropriate
scrubbers, a hugely expensive process.

As far is I understand from the news (but nowbody seems to quite
understand this dark-of-the-night operation), some company in England
offered to dismantle the ships for a much lower price than would have
been possible in the US. Apparently, they did not have permission to
handle such materials however, and wanted to use cheap (=inadequate)
procedures for disposal.

Old rule for making a quick buck: privatise profits, then socialise
costs (the cleanup required later).

The use of materials now known to be very dangerous for hand cleaning is
unfortunately no joke, I still remember benzene being used exactly for
this purpose in the lab.
 
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