ABSTRACT
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in wildlife samples were first reported in Sweden in 1966, and later reported in several European countries, North America, and Japan. These widespread and persistent pollutants have become an increased global concern since then, and are recognized to be among the most abundant of the chlorinated hydrocarbons in the global ecosystem as well as 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites. Research into the ecological and toxicological aspects of PCBs has greatly increased in the last decade; more than 1000 articles have been published so far, according to Chemical Abstracts. The physical and chemical properties that make PCBs desirable industrial chemicals are their excellent thermal stability, their strong resistance to both acidic and basic hydroxides and action of corrosive chemicals, and their general inertness. The hydrophobic and lipophylic nature of PCBs make them particularly soluble in lipids, and hence PCBs accumulate especially in organisms which are high in the food chain, perhaps including human beings.
