Biotransfer of polychlorinated biphenyls and health threats:
A case study in Zhejiang , China contaminated by E-Waste

Xu Ying 1,*, Zhao Gaofeng 1, Han Guangen 2 and Ling Bo 3

1 State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Sciences , Wuhan , 430072, P.R.China;
2 Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Hangzhuo, 310009 , P.R.China;
3 Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Beijing , 100050P.R.China
( *author for Correspondence: tel/fax: +86-27-68780607; e-mail address: xuying@ihb.ac.cn)  

Abstract

With the rapid development of economy in recent years, electronic waste (E-waste) has become the fastest growing solid waste in China . Due to the thick profit, huge amount of E-waste coming both from domestic and overseas are continually transported to the eastern/southern coast of China . Taizhou , Zhejiang located in the eastern coast of China , is a typical area with over twenty-year history for disassembly of obsolete transformers and other electronic waste (E-waste). In order to understand the current status of environmental contamination in this area, g roundwater, river water, paddy soil, rice seeds, hen eggs, silver carps, umbilical cord blood and newborn meconium were collected f rom 2003 to 2004. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (28, 52, 77, 81, 101, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 138, 153, 156, 157, 167, 169, 180 and 189 were determined using GCMS-SIM technique. The results demonstrated that the local environment and edible food especially rice seeds, freshwater fish and hen eggs have been seriously contaminated by toxic PCBs. By comparing PCBs concentration profiles and TEQ values in different samples, a clear biomagnification of PCBs was demonstrated along food chain. The actual daily intake (ADI) estimated shows that the consumption of PCBs through drinking and food by local residents have greatly exceeded the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) value regulated by World Health Organization ( WHO) . Furthermore, significantly high PCBs levels were found in the cord blood of the local pregnant with detection frequency of 100% in all samples tested . A significant correlation (r 2=0.80, p < 0.01) between indicator PCBs levels in cord blood and meconium was observed showing the evident biotransfer to newborn. The results clearly indicate that E-waste is an important source for PCBs emission. The environmental release of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in E-waste has become a serious threat to human health.

Key words: biotransfer, E-waste , polychlorinated biphenyls, cord blood, meconium