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Worldwide PCB Pollution Pollution of human beings is on going | Back | Menu | Next | As a matter in fact, we humans are taking in PCBs everyday. The main route is via foods. Foods become contaminated with PCBs because there are a lot of PCBs in the environment. PCBs have, and are at this moment, leaching out of products in our daily lives, such as the capacitors in fluorescent lights and transformers. And those PCBs that are emitted come back into our daily lives in a form of foods. After we consume PCB-contaminated foods, they are absorbed into our bodies via our gastrointestinal tract and they accumulate in fatty tissues. They are then passed on from mothers to babies during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Breast-feeding plays an essential role in nurturing babies and in the transmission of immunities from mothers to their children. For this reason, mothers should try as much as possible not to consume PCBs during pregnancy and lactation periods. To stop further contamination of foods, we must cut off the sources of PCB pollution and conduct collection and treatment of PCB wastes. Average daily intake of PCB (g/person) in various countries. Country Year Intake Gujarat, India 1980s ND Punjab, India (vegetalian) 1980-1981 ND Punjab, India (non vegetalian) 1980-1981 ND Uttar Pradesh, India 1981-1983 ND India 1989 0.86 Gujarat, India 1990s ND Thailand 1980 ND Thailand 1989 1.5 Vietnam 1990 3.7 Japan 1977 3.3 Japan 1985 4.3 Japan 1992-1993 ND China 1973 ND China 1990 ND Hong Kong 1985 ND New Zealand 1982 54 Australia 1980 ND Australia 1990-1992 6.9 USA 1980 0.45 USA 1987 1.6 USA 1990 ND Canada 1985 0.09 Sweden 1975 9.2 Sweden 1990 6.8 Finland 1983 14 West Germany 1987 4.1 Italy 1971-1972 ND Italy 1978-1984 ND UK 1980 ND UK 1985 ND UK 1990s 0.53 Spain 1979-1980 ND Spain 1980-1981 ND The Netherlands 1976-1978 ND Switzerland 1981-1983 ND K. Kannan et al., (1997) Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol 152, 1-55 Concentrations of PCBs in butter samples Country Mean(pg/g lipid) Austria 6,810 Austria 740 Brazil 1,060 Canada 1,680 Brazil 1,790 Czeck Republic 14,090 Denmark 3,050 Germany 8,740 India 4,510 Israel 3,570 Italy 7,660 Japan 600 Mexico 1,180 Philippines 520 S. Africa 4,160 Spain 5,470 Sweden 3,610 Thailand 1,210 Netherland 5,620 New Zealand 230 Tunisia 11,810 U.K. 3,370 U.S.A 2,250 O. I. Kalantzi et al., (2001) Environ. Sci. Technol, 35, 1013-1018 Concentration of PCBs in foodstuffs (ng/g wet wt.) Food Countris Conc. Animal fat Vietnam 61 Beef liver South Korea  5.4  Beef muscle South Korea 3.7 Beverages Australia 2.3 Butter Vietnam 17 Carp South Korea 5.6 Carp fish Indonesia NA Caviar Vietnam 51 Cereals Australia 0.62 Cheese Papua New Guinea 4.4 Chicken Solomon Islands 5.2 Papua New Guinea 124 Chicken muscle Indonesia 4.5 Indonesia NA Croaker South Korea 60 Dairy products Australia 4.1 Egg Indonesia NA Fish Australia 55 Indonesia 3.8 Solomon Islands 3.6 Vietnam 10 Fish and shellfish Papua New Guinea 7.5 Fruits Australia 0.28 Meat Vietnam 18 Meat and fat Australia 11 Oil Vietnam 21 Australia 6.5 Pork South Korea 2.2 Pork fat Indonesia 2.9 Papua New Guinea 45 Solomon Islands 17 Pulses Australia 1.4 Vietnam 4 Rice Indonesia 0.34 Vietnam 2.5 Shellfish Vietnam 27 Squid Indonesia 2 Vegetable Australia 0.4 Indonesia NA K. Kannan et al., (1997) Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol 152, 1-55 | Back | Menu | Next |

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