Toxicity equivalency factors for PCBs

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6051928

Barnes, D; Alford-Stevens, A; Birnbaum, L; Kutz, F W; Wood, W

In December 1990 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a workshop to discuss the applicability of an interim 'toxicity equivalency factor' (TEF) approach to assessing risks posed by exposures to complex mixtures of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The group concluded that application of the TEF approach to PCBs would be less straightforward than it was in the case of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (CDDs/CDFs). It appears that 'dioxin'-like properties of some PCB congeners are amenable to a TEF treatment that is compatible with that used for CDDs/CDFs. Such a scheme also seems to have utility in assessing risks to wildlife. Other non-'dioxin'-like toxic endpoints (e.g., neurotoxicity) appear to have a different structure-activity-related mechanism-of-action that requires a separate TEF scheme. The workshop identified data gaps in toxicology and analytical chemistry that hinder adoption of proposed TEF schemes for PCBs at this time.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States). Health Effects Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6051928
• Report Number(s): PB-92-113349/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BENZOFURANS
DIOXIN
DISPERSIONS
FURANS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
MEETINGS
MIXTURES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RISK ASSESSMENT
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
TOXICITY