ABSTRACT

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) comprise a family of 209 congeners that have low electrical conductivity and high thermal resistance due to their physicochemical properties and are thus widely used as dielectric oils, among other applications. Although PCBs are no longer used in dielectric oils in Colombia as of several years ago, electric transformers in Colombia might still contain PCBs, and workers might carry PCBs due to exposure from when they were still used in dielectric fluid. Thus, occupational exposure in Colombia to PCBs was evaluated by determining their concentrations in the blood plasma samples of 115 workers in the electricity sector . The sum of the six PCB indicators was between <LOD and 16.09 µg L⁻¹ (median: <0.10 µg L⁻¹, 95^th percentile: 1.30 µg L⁻¹), and the total concentration of PCBs calculated as PCB 138 + 153 + 180 × 1.7 was between <LOD and 3210.17 ng g⁻¹ lipids (median: <7.30 ng g⁻¹ , 95^th percentile: 392.79 ng g⁻¹). . One worker dedicated to transformer and capacitor maintenance activities presented a PCB value higher than the biological tolerance level of 15 µg L⁻¹. The findings of the present investigation revealed that workers in the electricity sector face chronic occupational exposure to PCBs; Finally, the results can help to improve health policies related to these contaminants in the country.

摘要

多氯联苯 (PCB) 包含 209 种同系物，由于其物理化学性质，它们具有低电导率和高耐热性，因此在其他应用中被广泛用作介电油。尽管几年前在哥伦比亚的介电油中不再使用多氯联苯，但哥伦比亚的电力变压器可能仍含有多氯联苯，而且工人可能会因为接触多氯联苯而携带多氯联苯，因为它们仍然用于介电液。因此，通过确定电力部门 115 名工人血浆样本中多氯联苯的浓度来评估哥伦比亚的职业接触多氯联苯。六种 PCB 指标的总和介于 <LOD 和 16.09 µg L ^-1之间（中位数：<0.10 µg L ^-1 , 95 ^th百分位：1.30 µg L ^-1），PCB 的总浓度计算为 PCB 138 + 153 + 180 × 1.7 介于 <LOD 和 3210.17 ng g ^-1脂质之间（中位数：<7.30 ng g ^-1，第 95^个百分位： 392.79 ng g ^-1 )。. 一名专门从事变压器和电容器维护活动的工人提出的 PCB 值高于 15 µg L ^-1的生物耐受水平。本次调查的结果显示，电力部门的工人面临长期职业接触多氯联苯；最后，研究结果有助于改善该国与这些污染物相关的卫生政策。