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Table 2 Comparison values and context for Cape Cod PCB levels.

From: PCB-containing wood floor finish is a likely source of elevated PCBs in residents' blood, household air and dust: a case study of exposure

  

Indoor air (ng/m3)

House dust (μg/g)

Serum (ng/g lipid)

EPA health-based guidelinea

3.4

0.22

 

Maximum for 16 MA homesb (PCB 52+105+153 only)

7.3

0.6

 

Maximum for 16 MA homesb (sum of 65 PCB congeners)

51

3.6

 

Maximum for 1046 U.S. homesc (sum of PCB 105+153)

 

10

 

NHANES PCBsd

median

  

267

 

75th percentile

  

394

 

95th percentile

  

715

 

maximum

  

1466

NHANES 4,4'-DDEe

median

  

692

 

75th percentile

  

1314

 

95th percentile

  

2569

 

maximum

  

6510

  1. abbreviations: PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  2. aEPA Health-based guidance value for total PCBs – EPA Region 9 Preliminary Remediation Goals for ambient air and residential soil (2004).
  3. bMaximum concentration of the sum of PCB congeners tested in a study of 16 homes (15 homes for dust) intended to represent background PCB levels in Southeastern, MA (Vorhees et al. 1997 and 1999). On average PCBs 52+105+153 represent 9% of the 65 congeners in air samples from this study and 12% of the congeners in dust.
  4. cSum of the maximum concentrations of PCBs 105 and 153 in a non-hodgkin lymphoma case-control study of 1046 homes in the U.S. (Colt 2005).
  5. dNHANES 1999–2002 data for white women over age 59 (n = 319) – sum of 10 PCBs measured on Cape Cod; non-detects set to 0. The 95th percentile for white men over age 59 (n = 295) is 679 ng/g lipid.
  6. eNHANES 1999–2002 data for white women over age 59 (n = 319) – 4,4'-DDE included as an alternate bioaccumulative, persistent organochlorine