Focus on PCBs | Protecting the Environment and Advancing Precise Detection of Polychlorinated Biphenyls as Persistent Pollutants
Structural formula of PCBs
Polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) are a class of man-made organic chemicals composed of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine atoms. They have the following characteristics:stable properties, low flammability, and excellent insulating performance.
Because of these properties, PCBs were once widely used in various industrial fields, for example as coolants and insulating materials in capacitors and transformers, and as additives in plastics and paints.
Later studies found thatPCBsare extremely harmful to the environment and biological health. They canpersist in the environment for a long time without decomposing, contaminating water and soil, and causing lasting impacts on ecosystems.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are among the first 12 persistent organic pollutantsto be controlled under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. They are hazardous due to their resistance to degradation and biological toxicity.
At present,countries around the world attach great importance to research on PCB pollutants and list them as priority targets for environmental control and monitoring. Countries have also enacted laws strictly prohibiting the continued production and use of PCBs, and promulgated relevant standard methods for their monitoring.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has listed PCBs among priority-controlled organic pollutants, and developed countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Australia, and Austria have also carried out corresponding basic research and pollution control on persistent organic pollutants such as PCBs.
The Chinese government included PCBs in the List of Priority-Controlled Pollutants in Water in 1989, and implemented the Pollution Control Standard for Waste Containing Polychlorinated Biphenyls (GB 13015-1991) in 1992. In 1999, PCBs were again included in the newly promulgated Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water (GHZB1-1999).
With the continuous improvement of China's regulations, PCB monitoring has been carried out in depth, with further investigations of organic pollutants in food, industrial products, urban air, tap water, and major rivers, and it has been explicitly proposed that the monitoring and analysis of organic pollution be listed as a key problem to be addressed in monitoring work.Localization, standardization, and modernization of organic pollutant analysis and testing methods have been set as work objectives, along with the establishment of supporting laws and regulations for organic pollution control.
Due to the potential hazards of PCBs to the environment and human health, their monitoring and control have become crucial.
CATO provides a series of PCB reference standards to help testing institutions more accurately assess PCB pollution levels in the environment and food, so as to strictly control the production and emission of PCBs and protect the environment and public health.
