Laboratory evaluation of a prospective remediation method for PCB-contaminated paint

Background: paint laden with polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) often acts as a point source for environmentalcontamination. it is advantageous to address contaminated paint before the pcbs transport to surrounding media;however, current disposal methods of painted material introduce a variety of complications. previous workdemonstrates that pcbs can be broken down at ambient temperatures and pressures through a degradationprocess involving magnesium metal and acidified ethanol. this report is an extension of that work by describingthe development of a delivery system for said reaction in preparation for a field test. two treatment optionsincluding the activated metal treatment system (amts) and the non-metal treatment system (nmts) remove anddegrade pcbs from painted surfaces.findings: amts decreased the aroclor® concentration of a solution by more than 97% within 120 minutes and thearoclor® concentration of industrial paint chips by up to 98% over three weeks. after removing up to 76% of pcbson a painted surface after seven days, nmts also removed trace amounts of pcbs in the paint’s concrete substrate.the evaporation rate of the solvent (ethanol) from the treatment system was reduced when the application areawas increased. the solvent system’s ability to remove more than 90% of pcbs was maintained after losing 36% ofits mass to solvent evaporation.conclusions: the delivery systems, amts and nmts, are able to support the hydrodechlorination reactionnecessary for pcb degradation and are therefore attractive options for further studies regarding the remediation ofcontaminated painted surfaces.