Table 2

Comparison values and context for Cape Cod PCB levels.



Indoor air (ng/m3)
House dust (μg/g)
Serum (ng/g lipid)

EPA health-based guidelinea
3.4
0.22

Maximum for 16 MA homesb (PCB 52+105+153 only)
7.3
0.6

Maximum for 16 MA homesb (sum of 65 PCB congeners)
51
3.6

Maximum for 1046 U.S. homesc (sum of PCB 105+153)

10

NHANES PCBsd
median


267

75th percentile


394

95th percentile


715

maximum


1466
NHANES 4,4'-DDEe
median


692

75th percentile


1314

95th percentile


2569

maximum


6510

abbreviations: PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

aEPA Health-based guidance value for total PCBs – EPA Region 9 Preliminary Remediation Goals for ambient air and residential soil (2004).

bMaximum concentration of the sum of PCB congeners tested in a study of 16 homes (15 homes for dust) intended to represent background PCB levels in Southeastern, MA (Vorhees et al. 1997 and 1999). On average PCBs 52+105+153 represent 9% of the 65 congeners in air samples from this study and 12% of the congeners in dust.

cSum of the maximum concentrations of PCBs 105 and 153 in a non-hodgkin lymphoma case-control study of 1046 homes in the U.S. (Colt 2005).

dNHANES 1999–2002 data for white women over age 59 (n = 319) – sum of 10 PCBs measured on Cape Cod; non-detects set to 0. The 95th percentile for white men over age 59 (n = 295) is 679 ng/g lipid.

eNHANES 1999–2002 data for white women over age 59 (n = 319) – 4,4'-DDE included as an alternate bioaccumulative, persistent organochlorine

Rudel et al. Environmental Health 2008 7:2   doi:10.1186/1476-069X-7-2