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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Analysis of Organochlorine Pesticides in a Soil Sample by a Modified QuEChERS Approach Using Ammonium Formate
Published on: January 20, 2023
Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in 1,4-dichlorobenzene mothballs
Wen-bin Liu1, Ming-hui Zheng, Ying Xing
1Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
Abstract:
Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are globally recognized pollutant, an understanding of their resources as by-products in chemical industry is poorly investigated. This paper presents data from a study that was conducted in order to determine the extent of PCBs in 1,4-dichlorobenzene( p-DCB) mothballs. Total PCBs and dioxin-like PCBs were detected in five mothball samples. Total PCB concentrations ranged from 328 ng/g to 1798 ng/g, while the levels of WHO-TEQ were between 0.16 pg/g and 13 pg/g. Mean concentrations of total PCBs and WHO-TEQ in the samples were 724 ng/g and 3. 2 pg/g, respectively. The highest level of PCB congeners was that of trichlorinated biphenyls (537 ng/g), which maybe due to the relatively low chlorination in the process of p-DCB production. A mechanism of the formation of PCBs from polychlorinated benzene in the presence of chlorine is also suggested. The results suggested that re-estimation on the risk of p-DCB products, especially the products for daily use such as mothballs, is expected.
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