Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are a broad category of organic chemicals used in a variety of industrial and commercial processes. Despite being used in industrial settings, PCBs have never been manufactured in India. India, being a signatory, is required to comply with the Stockholm Convention’s requirements to phase out PCB use in equipment by 2025 and eliminate PCBs entirely by 2028. Since 1966, PCBs have been found in environmental matrices, and depositions of industrial applications, incinerators, and biomass combustions are some of the ways they are exposed in soil. Thirteen of the 209 different PCB types show toxicity similar to that of dioxin. PCBs have been classified as probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as well as by Environment protection Agency and listed by the Stockholm Convention as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under Dirty Dozens. Exposure assessment studies have been carried out in humans as a function of health, along with studies on particular matrices like the atmosphere, soil, water, and organisms, but there is still a need for additional research to determine how these matrices can more accurately reflect on humans.