PCB Analysis: Facts

Enabling Regulatory Compliance and Employee Protection

Does your equipment meet regulation?

At one time, the Electric Industry extensively used insulating oils containing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in transformers and capacitors. PCBs have since been linked to various environmental and health concerns leading to the introduction of strict regulations outlining acceptable limits. In Canada, PCBs are federally regulated with a current allowable storage limit of 50 ppm. New amendments propose to reduce these limits to 2 ppm. In order to comply with current regulatory standards, a complete inventory of PCBs must be maintained and this includes insulating oils for which historical data is not available.

Dollars and Sense

Manitoba Hydro’s Oil Laboratory is capable of detecting PCBs at much lower levels than regulated limits and does so using an instrument (Gas Chromatograph coupled to Mass Spectrometry) which is much more definitive at low levels than comparably priced testing instruments used by other labs. This puts you ahead of the regulation, avoiding additional testing costs in the event of future regulatory reductions.

Decontamination Services

For 20 years, Manitoba Hydro has been the leader in the decontamination of oil containing PCBs. We operate a full-service oil reclamation plant in Winnipeg, taking in most transformer oils containing PCBs and turning them into oil with only 2ppm, fully qualified for re-use in any class of electrical equipment. If there is PCB in your oil, we can help.

Quality Assurance

Our laboratories offer experience combined with state-of-the-art technology to provide world-class oil testing and analysis. We follow quality policies and procedures in all testing and analysis, conforming to national and international standards including accreditation by the SCC/CAEAL program to ISO/IEC 17025 for specific tests.

CONTACT MANITOBA HYDRO TODAY TO DISCUSS OUR DETAILED PACKAGE OF TESTS AS WELL AS PRICING.