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Article: PCBs
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PCBS
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of synthetic chlorinated organic compounds that are of public health concern because of their persistence in the environment and their potential cancer-causing and endocrine-disruptive effects. There are 209 individual PCB congeners of varying toxicity, but a smaller number accounts for most of the commercially distributed mixtures. PCBs usually have been sold as clear oily mixtures whose lubricating, insulating, and coolant properties have led to their being widely distributed for many industrial and commercial uses. They are relatively inert, making them particularly valuable for such uses as fireproofing, but their lack of reactivity ...