PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) in Caulk

March 9, 2010

Welcome to the first in a series of regular newsletters that will provide updates and review topics relating to safety in industrial settings including indoor air quality, chemical safety, and environmental issues. The goal of these newsletters is to provide you with relevant and timely information.
This first issue covers a topic that has been on the minds of many of us the past few months – PCBs and caulk. Unfortunately, this has become a widespread issue that has many facilities managers scratching their heads and understandably worried about how to deal with this issue. In this newsletter, I have included some very basic information on how to proceed. I hope that you find this newsletter useful, and we look forward to supporting you with this difficult issue.
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Basic information on how to manage PCBs in caulk:
 Found in many buildings built between 1950 and 1978 (less likely outside these dates)
 No visual differences between PCB and non-PCB caulk
 PCB containing caulk is handled differently than asbestos containing caulk
 Contact an expert to clarify the ramifications if planning to test caulk
 If concerns about PCBs arise, air testing might be first test performed
 If renovating or demolishing, caulk should be tested
 Caulk known to contain ≥50 ppm PCBs must be removed
 Adjacent material, if significantly contaminated, must also be removed
 Remediation and disposal covered under current regulations (40 CFR part 761)
 Cost depends on remediation strategy
 EPA website: www.epa.gov/pcbsincaulk/

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Fuss & O'Neill EnviroScience is a multi-disciplined industrial hygiene and environmental engineering firm that is positioned to provide a wide variety of environmental services – including PCB remediation. Our experts will work with your facility to ensure safe, timely, and legal removal of PCB contaminated materials. This process will include initial assessment, plan preparation and submission to government agencies, oversight of removal/remediation process, confirmation sampling, data management, and final report preparation. The goal of our service is to properly remediate the contaminated material and provide a working and living environment that is safe for the present and future.
For more information on seminar dates and times contact:

Kevin W. MIller, Ph.D.
kmiller@fando.com