PCB : Detoxification of building materials in DK Presentation for EURITS d. 14 May 2012

PCB: Detoxification of buildingmaterials in DK Presentation for EURITS d. 14 May 2012

Lars GunnarsenDanish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Sum 7 congeners: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 og 180

2 dioxin-like congeners: 77, 81, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 156, 157, 167, 169, og 189

All PCB congeners akkumulate in human bodies

105 og 118 has WHO TEF på 0,0001 and for 156 it is 5 times biggerHighest TEF has nr. 126 with TEF equal 0,1

Vapor pressure of PCB 118 at 25 C is 8.974 × 10–6 mmHg = 0.001196 Pa = 1.18 × 10-8 atm. In air at 1,013 × 105 Pa (1 atm) this is equal to 12 ppb or 160 µg/m3

Occupational TLV is 0 µg/m3

The national Board of Health reccomends action limits set at 3 and 0,3 µg/m3 for indoor air

PCB fundamentals

Construction products

Indoor air

Surface Dust

Soil

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Opførelsesår

Byg

ning

sbes

tand

(m

io m

2)

Erection Year

Bui

ldin

g ar

ea

1950 to 1976 where PCB containing sealant were on the marked 143 mill. m2 new buildings have been erected which is 37 % of the total building stock of 389 mill. m2.

Have not got new windows since 1976 61 %Have rubber-like inner sealants 59 %Have rubber-like outer sealants 22 %Length inner sealants per area 0,47 m/m2

Length inner sealants per area 0,47 m/m2

Total remaining PCB in construction products 20 x103 kgMass primary PCB sources 6.6x106 kgMass secondary sources 3.4x109 kg

Some inofficial guestimates

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 600

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

PCB 28

Temperature (oC)

Vapo

r pre

ssur

e (P

a)

EKSP(34,92 - 11,624*1000/(t + 273))

Temperature dependency of vapor pressure

Equation valid 40-55 oC

  > 50 mg PCB/kg Dangerous waste To be destructed at approved inceneration plant or deposited underground (not possible in Denmark)

0,1 – 50 mg PCB/kg Not dangerous waste

•Waste with PCB content of less than 1 mg/kg may be deposited at depot for inert waste

•Waste with PCB content between 1 and 50 mg/kg, may be deposited at depot for for mineral waste or mixed waste 

  < 0,1 mg PCB/kg Products for reuse

May be reused according to other specific rules after notification of municipal authorities

Action values for building occupancy.

> 3.000 ng PCB/m3 air Highest level. Immediate action required.Durable sollutions - could be evacuation of building - should take place before 6 months.

  300 – 3.000 ng PCB/m3 air Intermediate level. An action plan required to after some time assure indoor air concentrations below 300 ng PCB/m3 luft.

At 2.000 – 3.000 ng PCB/m3 it is recommended that a maximum of one year may pas before a durable solution is commenced.

At 300 – 2.000 ng PCB/m3 it is recommended that a maximum of two years may pas before a durable solution is commenced. Temporary alleviation measures should be considered.

     < 300 ng PCB/m3 air Lowest level that does not increase the health risks.

PCB exposure from indoor air and health risks in relation to recommendations from National Board of Health

Recommendations are based on occupancy of buildings 24-7 for several years.

Homepage ofthe project

SBi.dk/pcb

(in Danish)

Projekt planning 1. år 2. år 3. år 4. år F1. Planning

Litterature survey F2. Laboratory tests

Field tests Data analysis

F3. PCB instruction guide Field tests Data analysis

F5. Improved guide

Recent measurements

24 congeners included in the analysis: PCB-28, 52, 66, 74, 77, 81, 99, 101, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 138, 153, 156, 157, 167, 169, 170, 180, 183, 187 og 189. (Dioxin-like in red)

Blood samples furthermore included congener number 69, 178, 182 og 190.

Sample summary

• Results from:– 83 air samples (Birkhøj)– 20 sealant samples (Birkhøj)– 21 air samples (uncontaminated parts of Farum

Midtpunkt)– Approx. 200 blood samples 100 from

contaminated and 100 from PCB free appartments

Sealant samples were taken by knife for single use after removal of temporary sealing with aluminum tape and wodden panels.

Air samples were taken by adsorption on XAD-2 and a total sampling volume during approx. 24 hours of approx. 2.7 m3.

Results, airBirkhøj (n=83), PCBtot

• Average: 1030 ng/m3

• Interval: 168-3843 ng/m3

• 80 appa. > 300 ng/m3 ; 8 appa. > 2000 ng/m3 ; 1 appa. >3000 ng/m3

Øvrige (n=21),• PCB > LOQ in 52%• Average = 6.0 ng/m3 ; interval <LOQ – 254 ng/m3

• OBS! one appartment with high PCB-level. The occupant had lived 31 years in contaminated part and indoor air contamination from household contents suspoected.

Resultats, sealants• Average ∑24PCB: 100 817 mg/kg (187 – 221 667 mg/kg)

• Average PCBtot: 252 150 mg/kg (436 – 718 430 mg/kg)

PC 1 (76%)

PC

2 (2

3%)

-10 -5 0 5-4

-2

0

2

4

6

401A

406C

410D 410E

410F

413D

414E414F

422E

427A

433C434D 435A435D

439E

444F446D448A

456A456F

Ar-1232

Ar-1242

Ar-1254

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Air vs. selants

• Good correlation for low-chlorinated (even intercorrelation)• No correlation between air and sealants for highly-chlorinated

PCB-28 in air and sealant

PCB-28 in air (ng/m3)

PC

B-2

8 in

sea

lant

(m

g/kg

)

10 100 100010

100

1000

10000

PCB-52 in air and sealant

PCB-52 in air (ng/m3)

PC

B-5

2 in

sea

lant

(m

g/kg

)

10 100 100010

100

1000

10000

100000

Sum of 24 measured congeners in indoor air (ng/m3)

Sum of 12 non-dioxinlike congeners in indoor air (ng/m3)

Sum of 12 dioxinlike congeners in indoor air (ng/m3)

139134N =

127165103219

201

240

241

7525041273793

9435

PCB

118

in pl

asm

a, u

g/l

,7

,6

,5

,4

,3

,2

,1

0,0

-,1

PCB exposure in apartment

ExposeNon-exposed

Number of years living in Farum Midtpunkt dwelling

4035302520151050-5

Sum

of 3

- 4

chlo

rine

PCB

in p

lasm

a, u

g/l

25

20

15

10

5

0

-5

PCB exposure

Exposed

Non-exposed

Correlation coefficient 0.69 ; p<0.001 (Spearman); n = 154

PCB 28 in air of dwelling, ng/m3

3002001000

PCB

28 in

pla

sma,

ug/

l

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

PCB congener

Number Concentration, mg/kgAverage Min 25 percentile Median 75 percentile Max

Sum 24 20 100817,4 187,0 4556,5 101040,0 168584,8 221677,0

Sum_DL 19 13472,3 29,4 1071,7 15836,8 22370,7 26382,3

Sum_NDL 20 87274,4 157,5 3465,9 80113,3 152273,9 206043,0

Total PCB (6) 20 252149,7 436,0 7005,2 165207,5 500091,3 718430,0

Total PCB (6+1) 20 283017,0 511,6 9678,8 210992,5 538203,8 749330,0

PCB content in selants in contaminated part

PCB congener

Concentration, ng/m3

Average Min 25 percentile Median 75 percentile Max

Sum 24 284,90 43,31 150,13 235,77 350,57 1060,02

Sum_DL1 3,21 0,18 1,20 2,19 3,53 16,53

Sum_NDL2 281,68 43,10 146,96 233,73 349,21 1043,48

Total PCB (6) 1030,15 167,97 531,21 858,75 1333,83 3842,88

Total PCB (6+1)

1038,90 167,95 534,55 861,95 1343,75 3888,30

PCB in indoor air in contaminated part

Questionnaire resultsa) Vacuuming

PCB

tot,

air

(ng/

m3)

Daily Weekly Monthly Less0

500

1000

1500

2000

(n=9) (n=1)(n=10)(n=61)

b) Dusting

PCB

tot,

air

(ng/

m3 )

Daily Weekly Monthly Less0

500

1000

1500

2000

*

(n=3) (n=2)(n=19)(n=57)

c) Floor washing

PC

Bto

t, a

ir (n

g/m

3 )

Daily Weekly Monthly Less0

500

1000

1500

2000

(n=2) (n=8)(n=29)(n=41)

d) AiringP

CB

tot,

air

(ng/

m3 )

Daily Weekly Monthly Less0

500

1000

1500

2000

(n=54) (n=3)(n=5)(n=21)

Cleaning does help

Conclusions

There still is PCB in some buildings – maybe in approximately 10% of the buildings from the relevant period

Old sealants with PCB, will still be a significant source of PCB in indoor air, surface dust and the soil around the buildings. In rare cases this may lead to health risks for the building occupants

PCB in dwellings leads to a significantly increased PCB contamination of building occupants. For these people the dwelling causes by far the most PCB intake

Better ability to identify buildings with PCB is recommended

More efficient means of renovation of PCB contaminated buildings are recommended

More rigorous waste hanling recommended

More reseach, innovation and consistency recommended