Acute, subacute, and residual effects of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in rats. I. Biologic half‐life in adipose tissue

Abstract

Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing Aroclor 1254 at o, 5, 50, or 500 ppm for 4 wk. The biologic half-life of Aroclor 1254 in adipose tissue of rats fed 500 ppm, as determined by a gas chromatographic method, was 8 wk in males and 12 wk in females. These results are in line with sex-linked differences reported previously for other chlorinated hydrocarbons. It appears that the lower chlorine homologs in the Aroclor mixture are metabolized while those with higher chlorine content are lost more slowly.

Distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls in the Fort Edward, New York, water system

“…Over the past decade, it has been clearly established that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) constitute a class of pollutants characterized by extreme environmental persistance (Gustalson 1970, Hutzinger et al 1974, Furukawa et al 1978 and severe toxicity to man and animals (Bush et al 1974, Kuratsune et al 1975, Braunberg et al 1976, Mayer et al 1977. Commercial PCBs, which were marketed under the tradename Aroclor, are complex mixtures of polychlorinated derivatives of biphenyl having specified chlorine contents.…”