Introduction: Polychlorinated biphenyls, known by the acronym PCBs, are a group of synthetic chemicals that are used in a wide range of products, such as electrical appliances, surface coatings, inks, adhesives, flame retardants and paints. PCBs can be released into the environment, for example, by incinerating or storing waste that contains them. About 10% of the PCBs manufactured since 1929 are still present in the environment. Today, the manufacture and use of PCBs is prohibited or subject to significant restrictions in many countries, due to their impact on health and the environment. Objective: Identify the exposure to the chemical substances used as polychlorinated biphenyls in workers exposed to different economic activities and the effects on the environment. Materials and methods: a bibliographic review process was carried out, which focused on articles of the last 10 years, in English and Spanish, in full text. The databases consulted were Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Complementary Index, Science Citation index, Business Source Complete, MasterFILE Premier, Newspaper Source, Scopus, Supplemental Index and GreenFILE. The key words used were polychlorinated biphenyls, environment, health, effects, finding a total of 32 articles that met the selection criteria. Results: exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls triggers dermatological effects, alterations on the immune, reproductive and endocrine systems. In the environment, they do not degrade easily, being able to stay for a long time and be transported long distances. Currently more than 60% of countries worldwide recognize that exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls can become a public health problemConclution: Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls in different studies shows a direct relationship with the work environment, since this can occur during the repair and maintenance of transformers with PCBs triggering dermatological effects, alterations on the immune, reproductive and endocrine system, therefore, it is necessary to use risk assessment methodologies that allow to know the exposure and control or minimize it. In the environment, they do not degrade easily, being able to stay for a long time and be transported long distances.
