The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Arrives Here's how the
term “PCB” achieved worldwide notoriety almost overnight. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created by Congress in
1970. Within just a few years, the EPA began to study reports of
ill effects in humans who had come into skin contact with, or
had inhaled fumes from Askarel fluids, and studied incidents of
genetic disorders where Askarel had entered into the human food
chain. Research studies showed that somewhere between 30% and
70% of the chemical composition of most Askarel was
“polychlorinated biphenyl” and thus, the term “PCB” achieved
worldwide notoriety almost overnight. After widely publicized
research studies and public hearings (and a few criminal
prosecutions), the EPA issued a formal ban on production of PCB
in 1979, and issued a long list of mostly confusing regulations
to American companies about what to do with the millions of tons
of Askarel that were already in active service in electrical
equipment everywhere inside and