PCB: Detoxification of building materials in DK Presentation for EURITS d. 14 May 2012 Lars Gunnarsen Danish Building Research Institute, Aalborg University

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Sum 7 congeners: 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 og 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 bigger Highest TEF has nr. 126 with TEF equal 0,1 Vapor pressure of PCB 118 at 25 C is × 10–6 mmHg = Pa = 1.18 × 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

Erection Year Building area

1950 to 1976 where PCB containing sealant were on the marked 143 mill. m 2 new buildings have been erected which is 37 % of the total building stock of 389 mill. m 2. Have not got new windows since % Have rubber-like inner sealants59 % Have rubber-like outer sealants22 % Length inner sealants per area0,47 m/m 2 Length inner sealants per area0,47 m/m 2 Total remaining PCB in construction products 20 x10 3 kg Mass primary PCB sources 6.6x10 6 kg Mass secondary sources 3.4x10 9 kg Some inofficial guestimates

EKSP(34, ,624*1000/(t + 273)) Temperature dependency of vapor pressure Equation valid o C

> 50 mg PCB/kgDangerous wasteTo be destructed at approved inceneration plant or deposited underground (not possible in Denmark) 0,1 – 50 mg PCB/kgNot 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/kgProducts for reuse May be reused according to other specific rules after notification of municipal authorities

Action values for building occupancy. > ng PCB/m 3 airHighest level. Immediate action required. Durable sollutions - could be evacuation of building - should take place before 6 months. 300 – ng PCB/m 3 airIntermediate level. An action plan required to after some time assure indoor air concentrations below 300 ng PCB/m3 luft. At – ng PCB/m3 it is recommended that a maximum of one year may pas before a durable solution is commenced. At 300 – 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/m 3 airLowest 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 of the project SBi.dk/pcb (in Danish)

Projekt planning

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 m 3.

Results, air Birkhøj (n=83), PCB tot Average: 1030 ng/m 3 Interval: ng/m 3 80 appa. > 300 ng/m 3 ; 8 appa. > 2000 ng/m 3 ; 1 appa. >3000 ng/m 3 Øvrige (n=21), PCB > LOQ in 52% Average = 6.0 ng/m 3 ; interval <LOQ – 254 ng/m 3 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 ∑ 24 PCB: mg/kg (187 – mg/kg) Average PCB tot : mg/kg (436 – mg/kg)

Air vs. selants Good correlation for low-chlorinated (even intercorrelation) No correlation between air and sealants for highly-chlorinated

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)

PCB congener NumberConcentration, mg/kg AverageMin25 percentileMedian75 percentileMax Sum ,4187,04556, , , ,0 Sum_DL ,329,41071,715836,822370,726382,3 Sum_NDL ,4157,53465,980113, , ,0 Total PCB (6) ,7436,07005, , , ,0 Total PCB (6+1) ,0511,69678, , , ,0 PCB content in selants in contaminated part

PCB in indoor air in contaminated part

Questionnaire results

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