AGR staff Blood samples contain hardly any PCB

Blood samples from employees of the waste disposal facility AGR contain hardly any PCB

29/03/2011

The employees of the Gelsenkirchen Waste Disposal Company Ruhr Area (AGR) are not contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The blood samples of most employees were inconspicuous, only three had a PCB content slightly above the detection limit, reports the AGR.

After increased levels of toxic PCBs were detected in an interim storage facility for hazardous waste of the AGR, the Münster district government had already closed down operations in February. Forty-five of the 55 affected employees volunteered a blood sample to test for PCB and mercury. However, in only three of the blood samples submitted, a PCB level was found to be slightly above the detection limit, reports AGR.

PCB concentration thousand times higher than the allowable limit
The TÜV Nord had conducted the examination of the blood samples of the AGR employees and ordered a further check-up in three months. However, in the previous analysis on mercury and PCB only minimal PCB levels were detected in three blood samples and a health risk for those affected is not to be assumed, also confirmed the district government of Münster. The AGR was relieved to see the reassuring results, as the high levels of stress encountered at the AGR site in Resse led to a much higher level of worker temptation. According to district government data, at one point in the hazardous waste store, the PCB concentration exceeded 1000 times the permissible limit. However, the operation in Resse admitted that there were deficiencies in cleanliness in view of the proven PCB contamination and explained that the affected workshop had meanwhile been thoroughly cleaned.

Health hazards due to PCB
Toxic and cancer-causing chemical chlorine compounds, known as PCBs, were used until the 1980s mainly in transformers and electrical capacitors and in hydraulic systems as hydraulic fluids and as plasticisers in paints, sealants, insulators and plastics. Since May 22, 2001, the health-endangering pollutants have been internationally banned by the Stockholm Convention. However, PCBs are hardly biodegraded so that toxic compounds are now detectable worldwide in the atmosphere, in the aquatic environment and in the soil. Although the acute toxicity of PCBs is relatively low, in the long term, even minimal PCB exposure can result in significant health consequences. Symptoms of PCB poisoning include, for example, chloracne, hair loss and liver damage as well as damage to the immune system (immunotoxicity). Since the poisons are hardly degraded, they also accumulate in the human organism via the food chain and are considered as a possible cause of cancer. In addition, according to the health authorities, physical and mental developmental disorders can be triggered by PCBs. Also, hormonal disorders are a possible consequence, which could cause in men, for example, infertility or undescended testicles. Special care should also be taken when handling PCB, as the toxins are directly absorbed by the body due to their lipid solubility by mere skin contact. (Fp)

Image: Fabio Sommaruga