Toxicology of PCBs for Mammals and for Birds

Abstract

IntroductonIn the early days of its use, little work was done on the toxicology of the PCBs, and this was only in relation to the risks of occupational exposure. As will be shown many more studies were made as soon as it appeared that the extremely stable PCB's became a threat to the environment and its wildlife, and accidents occurred of acute poisoning in man and animals. These studies have been made with material with different contents of chlorine, from different manufacture, and-as we can now say in retrospect-with different and unknown contents of toxic impurities. For this reason the toxicological information of PCB's is difficult to summarize, but since the character of some important impurities has recently been elucidated, it is well to discuss these first in order to be able to consider their contribution to the overall toxicity of the different preparations studied.These studies were started because of the analogy between the effects of the PCBs (1-6) and some toxic effects associated with toxic factors in crude chlorophenols and in "toxic fat". Effects of the latter are liver damage (7), chloracne (7,8) and edema formation (9).

Differences in Response of Caged White Leghorn Layers to Various Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the Diet

“…Report, 1972). Vos (1972) presented a comprehensive literature review on the toxicology of PCBs for mammals and for birds, including the chicken. Dahlgren et al (1972) reported adverse effects of Aroclor 1254 on egg production and hatchability of caged pheasant females given a weekly administration of 50 mg. per bird via capsule.…”

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Uptake and Transport by Lymph and Plasma Components

“…The chemical stability, relatively long biological half-life, and lipophilicity of these compounds result in their bioaccumulation in the food chain (1). Reviews of PCB toxicity describe chloracne as a major clinical indicator of human exposure (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Clinical presentations in humans and animals include anorexia, loss of weight, severe diarrhea, decreased reproductive efficiency with fetal * To whom reprint requests should be addressed.…”