[TowerTalk] Heath Cantenna

[Joe]

Seems that the EPA has decided PCBs are a danger, albeit if safely handled, 
the risk is minimized:

"How can I tell whether a piece of equipment contains PCBs?

"Check for a manufacturer's label, which may give the date of manufacture 
and the trade name of the fluid. Some trade names that may refer to PCBs 
include Aroclor, Askarel, Eucarel, Pyranol, Dykanol, Clorphen, Clorinol, 
Chlorextol, Diaclor, Hyvol, Asbestol, Inerteen, Elemex, Saf-T-Kuhl, 
No-Flanol, Nepolin, EEC-18, and others. Equipment manufactured after 1979 
usually does not contain PCBs. Most pre-1979 capacitors do contain PCBs, 
while many pre-1979 transformers do not. Transformers within buildings or 
vaults are more likely to contain PCBs. New equipment should be labeled "No 
PCBs." PCBs are clear, amber-colored, or dark oily liquids. They may have a 
faint smell like motor oil, and some contain chlorobenzenes which make them 
smell like mothballs. Fluorescent light ballasts may contain about an ounce 
of PCBs; a utility pole capacitor or transformer may contain much more. 
Usually what leaks from a burned-out light ballast is not PCBs but a black 
tarry material that is used to muffle noise from the capacitor. However, it 
is safest to assume that anything that leaks from a transformer, capacitor, 
or light ballast contains PCBs, unless there is a "No PCBs" label on the 
equipment."

Further, here's a link to a Communications Workers of America fact sheet on 
PCBs:

http://www.cwa-union.org/osh/FactSheets.asp?ID=348

Seems that not only are doctors saying the "sky is falling" when it comes 
to PCBs, but the very workers union that deals with them on a daily basis.

73,
Joe
WDØM


At 12:52 PM 6/6/2004, AA6DX wrote:
>Mark, that's plumb silly.  All the xfmrs outside my house most likely have
>that crap in them, as I live in an old house ... in an old town .. alongside
>an old transmission line .. and, I used to .. way back .. get my oil from
>the PGE .. yep, xfmr oil .. for my dummy load(s) .. I knew several of the
>line guys, and some were hams .. ain't none of us ded yet.  Worked in
>broadcast engineering for years .. weeeeeeepy caps, weeepy chokes, weeepy
>xfmrs .. still alive!  SMOKING is what kills people .. if you do that, QUIT!
>(Flamesuit on)  And quit worrying about the Griefkit Cantennas .. I have
>three of them here.
>I do understand your query, but ... poop on the "doctors" that make their
>splendiferous living by making the populace say "the sky is falling .. the
>sky is falling" ... HIHI .. But, one must admit, those Chicky Little
>doomsayers do make a lot of taxpayer-funded bucks!   THEY can afford the new
>Yaesu - ICOM killer rigs!
>Mark      AA6DX