This document summarizes sources and levels of soil pollution by PCBs in Belarus. It discusses key findings including: 1) Sources of PCB pollution include usage and storage of PCB-containing equipment and production of PCB-containing paints and varnishes. 2) Investigation methodology and results found highest PCB levels at sites of equipment installation/storage, with some "hot spots" exceeding 80,000 mg/kg. 3) Problems include lack of equipment inventory, increasing storage volumes, and absence of harmonized soil pollution standards.

2. Sources and levels of soil pollution by
PCBs in Belarus:
achievements and problems of
management
Kukharchyk T., Kakareka S., Khomich V., Kazyrenka M.,
Institute for Nature Management of the National Academy of Sciences,
Minsk, Belarus

3. Included into presentation
• sources of PCBs soil pollution
• methodology of investigation
• levels of soil pollution, hot spots, redistribution
• measures undertaken
• problems
• conclusion

4. Sources of PCBs soil pollution in Belarus
PCB-containing
equipment usage
and storage
Sovol usage for
paint and varnish
production
about 300 power transformers and more
than 53 000 power capacitors;
about 800 owners of PCB-containing
equipment;
the total volume of PCBs – 1500 t;
only 15% of power transformers and 50% of
capacitors have been phased out of
operation;
only 17% of the total amount of PCB-
containing equipment have been destroyed
(2012)
about 5000 t of Sovol have been used at one
enterprise between 1967-1998

5. Sources of PCBs soil pollution in Belarus – cont.
PCBs releases into the environment from PCB-
containing equipment (draft estimates for late 1990th)1:
- leakages – 1.14 tonnes/year;
- emissions – 0.426 tonnes/year;
Current release rates are lower, but still significant.
PCBs emissions from stationary sources – 9-10 kg/year.
1Kakareka S., Kukharchyk T. Expert estimates of PCDD/F and
PCB emissions for some European countries. MSC-E Technical
Note 2/2002)

6. Methodology of investigation
 Concept: study of places where PCB-containing capacitors were installed or
stored in open air because of high risk of PCBs discharges directly into soil
 The main tasks: identification of sites where PCB-containing transformers and
capacitors were in use or stored; revealing of damaged equipment and PCB
waste; identification of PCBs leakages; sampling of soils and chemical-
analytical determinations of PCBs
 Methods of field investigations:
 on-site inspection taking into account different indicators of PCBs
leakages;
 surface soils sampling from different sites;
 digging soil pits, description and sampling of soils collected at different
depths
 Methods of chemical analytical determination:
 GC-MS method for 7 PCBs congeners (PCB-28, 52, 101, 118, 153, 138
and PCB-180) determination was applied;
 the sum of PCBs was calculated as follows: 7 PCBs congeners x 5
More than 90 sites were investigated and more than 600 soil samples were
collected and analysed.

7. Levels of soil pollution, hot spots, PCBs
redistribution
Sampling site Average Maximum
Places of PCB-containing capacitors installation 12000 82000
Places of PCB-containing capacitors storage (on the ground or on
concrete basement)
7130 92000
Places of PCB-containing transformers storage 78000 105000
Background territories (more than 1 km from sources) 0.035 0.165
Average and maximum content of PCBs in soils of impact zones of
PCB-containing equipment installation or storage, mg/kg
About 80% of investigated sites (sub-stations) have the so-called “hot spots”, in relation to
which cleaning and remediation measures should be taken.

8. Levels of soil pollution, hot spots, redistribution – cont.
Site of investigation Year Sampling site
Depth of
sampling,
cm
The sum of
7 PCBs
The former site of
PCB-containing
capacitors installation
2004
5 years after capacitors dismantling, no
visual leakage
0–5 29 -383
the same, visual leakage (hot spot 1) 0–3 6334
2011
12 years after capacitors dismantling,
visual leakage (hot spot 3)
0-2 9604
18-26 0.19
70-80 0.23
The storage of PCB-
containing capacitors
2005
between concrete slabs, visual leakage 0–3 12460
near the concrete slab 0–5 413
2011
near the damaged container with PCB-
containing capacitors, visual leakage
0-2 78440
The sum of 7 PCBs congener content in soil of substation in
Grodno region from 2004 to 2011, mg/kg

9. Indicators of soil pollution:
 ‘burned out’ vegetation;
 ‘oily’ soil;
 ‘dead’ litter;
 lifeless soil horizon.
Absence of vegetation in places of PCBs leaks, which
haven’t restored in 15 years or more, hampered the
development of soil formation processes including
humus and podzolic horizons formation.
Levels of soil pollution, hot spots,
redistribution – cont.

10. Site of sampling
Depth of
sampling,
cm
PCB-
28
PCB-
52
PCB-
101
PCB-
118
PCB-
153
PCB-
138
PCB-
180
Sum of 7
PCBs
Deposits on concrete tracks
(caused by wind)
0-1 0.072 0.04 0.052 0.038 nd 0.007 0.004 0.213
Soil from molehill 0-15 0.188 0.037 0.024 0.019 0.007 0.004 0.001 0.281
Soil from ant tracks 0-1 0.265 0.033 0.013 0.024 0.004 0.023 0.002 0.363
Run off deposits near the
substation
0-2 0.003 0.01 0.003 0.002 nd nd nd 0.018
Levels of soil pollution, hot spots, redistribution –
cont.
Different pathways of PCBs redistribution: the content of PCBs in soil
and deposits at former site of PCB-containing equipment installation
(12 years after dismantling), mg/kg

11.  Recommendation for Prevention of Environmental
Pollution with Polychlorinated Biphenyls. Minsk, 2006
 Rules for management of PCB-containing equipment and
wastes, 2008. Ordinance of the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection N62, 24.06.2008
Measures undertaken
Technical and legal
regulations
concerning PCBs
management
Practical
measures
 PCB-containing capacitors were dismantled; damaged
capacitors were packed into containers (the number of
sites with installed PCB-containing capacitors in
substations of electric networks has decreased by 2/3);
 excavation of most polluted soils at 22 substations has
been undertaken (about 44 tons of excavated soil are
stored on the territories of substations)

12. Problems
 poor investigation of soil pollution in places where PCB-
containing transformers are used or stored (the volume
of PCBs in the transformers varies from 0.2 to 4.4 t
each);
 increasing rates of PCB-containing equipment out of
service for temporary storage;
 risk of pollution sites loss after PCB-containing
equipment dismantling;
 lack of technologies for PCBs destruction and soil
remediation;
 increase of volume of excavated polluted soil;
 absence of harmonized limit value (maximum
permissible) for PCBs content in soil (in Belarus, Russia –
0.02 mg/kg; in Netherlands – 0.36-15 mg/kg, Sweden –
0.008 – 0.2, USA – 1 mg/kg);
 differences between PCBs compounds: total PCBs, sum
of 7PCBs congeners, dioxin-like PCBs, etc.
Distribution of PCB-containing
equipment in cities and
settlements of Belarus
It seems, that all of the 800 enterprises in Belarus (owners of PCB-containing
equipment) should be considered as potentially contaminated sites.
The problems of PCB-contaminated sites management in Belarus is similar to other
countries, firstly in the CIS.

13. Conclusions
to prevent PCBs leaks and their discharges into soil, the
system of PCBs management with focus on PCB-containing
equipment should be created;
to increase the effectiveness of PCB-contaminated sites
detection, the results of PCB-containing equipment
inventory should be considered as key element;
to avoid PCB-contaminated sites loss after PCB-containing
equipment dismantling, the database should be created with
updated information;
to prevent usage of PCBs-contaminated sites for other than
industrial purposes, appropriate technologies for soil
remediation taken into account high heterogeneity of soil
pollution should be used

14. Thank You very much
for Your attention!
tkukharchyk@gmail.com