[Characteristics of PCBs in a capacitor storage site and an industrial brownfield].

The levels and congener patterns of 28 PCBs compounds were investigated in soil and dust fallout collected in a capacitor storage site and an industrial brownfield, respectively in Sichuan Ziyang Locomotive Factory. The highest concentration of the total PCBs(sigma PCBs =227 502 ng x g(-1)) was found in soil collected from the front gate (unsealed) of the capacitor storage tunnel. Very high levels of sigma PCBs, exceed 10 microg x g(-1), were also found in the dust collected from the window sill of an iron foundry. There were significant positive correlations (P < 0.01) among PCB congener concentration in the storage site and the iron foundry samples. The major contribution to the total content of PCBs in the high contaminated samples was tetrachlorinated biphenyls, followed by tri- and penta-chlorinated biphenyls. Hexa- and higher chlorinated biphenyls contributed more to sigma PCBs in the iron foundry than those in the storage site. The total toxicity equivalents (TEQ) of 12 dioxin-like congeners varied in the range of 75.43-24 027 pg x g(-1) and were much higher than those in soils of e-waste recycling sites. However, PCB126 contribute the most to the TEQ in most cases.