RP3 Design, Sampling, Measurement and Design
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 6:30 PM in Exhibit Hall

(DEM-1117-825858) PCBs in Paint – Where to look and how to test.

McTigue, J.¹, Demers, G.¹, Lynch, J.², Dow, K.², ¹ ERM, Boston, MA, USA² Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Rowe, MA, USA

ABSTRACT- Historically, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been used in specialized paint formulations, which have been found at power plants, on military installations, and on military ships. Due to the uncommon nature of PCBs in paint, there is limited information available regarding environmental assessments focused on the nature of how paint chips containing PCBs migrate in the environment and how best to detect them. Detailed environmental assessments have been performed to address a release of paint chips containing PCBs at a former nuclear power plant in western Massachusetts. Stormwater and wind-blown deposition provided migration pathways for the paint chips. Sampling of soil, groundwater, catchbasins, sediments, , surface water, and fish tissues was performed to evaluate the migration pathways of the PCB-containing paint chips. Field screening was conducted using a magnetic particle immunoassay technique. Laboratory analyses of soil and sediment samples were performed by EPA Method 8082 using both soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction. Fish tissue samples were analyzed by Method 8082 and for congeners. The various analytical methods generally had a good correlation, but with some discrepancies that were attributed to the variability associated with the nature of paint chip particulates. Comparison of the two extraction methods for sediment determined that, on average, results were 35 percent higher using ultrasonic extraction. Comparison of Method 8082 and congener analytical results showed similar results, with the congener method being on average 35 percent higher than the total using Method 8082, with lower detection limits obtained using the congener method. The results of these investigations provide a framework for where to look for PCBs in paint and how to analyze various media to determine the extent of impact.

Key words: PCBs, Paint, Analysis, Congeners