Impact of municipal and industrial waste incinerators on PCBs content in the environment

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been withdrawn from the market due to their toxicity, bioaccumulation capacity, and persistence. PCBs have been observed to potentially form in combustion processes under appropriate conditions and in the presence of precursors containing chlorine. The study covered a municipal waste incineration plant and an industrial waste incineration plant. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of these objects on PCB accumulation in soil and plants taking into account the distance from the emission object and wind direction. Soil samples were collected from layers: 0-5, 5-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm. Test plants were collected from the same areas as the soil samples. The highest accumulation of PCBs was found in plants with large leaf area. Around the municipal waste incineration plant, these were Tanacetum vulgare leaves (12.45 ng/g), and around the industrial waste incineration plant–grasses (4.3 ng/g). In the case of soils, the accumulation of PCBs for both kind waste incinerators was similar, reaching approximately 3 ng/g. As the distance from the municipal waste incinerator and industrial waste incinerator increased, the accumulation of PCBs in the soil decreased. For municipal waste incinerator, no effect of wind direction on PCB accumulation in the soil was observed. In the majority of cases, the accumulation of PCBs in soils taken from the leeward side of the industrial waste incinerator was higher than that in soils from the windward side. In soils around the municipal waste incinerator, PCB compounds moved deep into the soil and reached the highest accumulation in the soil layer of 10-20 cm or 20-30 cm. In soils around the industrial waste incinerator, the highest accumulation of PCBs occurred in the soil layer of 0-5 cm.

How are polychlorinated biphenyls currently being produced, despite the production ban, and do they pose a risk to the environment?

“…Soil and plant samples were collected around the municipal waste incinerator plant (MWI) and the industrial waste incinerator plant (IWI). The highest accumulation of PCBs in plants near MWI was recorded in Tanacetum vulgare leaves (12.45 ng/g), and near IWI in the grass (4.3 ng/g) [Gabryszewska, Gworek 2020]. The accumulation of PCBs in soils, for both kinds of waste incinerators, was similar, at approximately 3 ng/g [Gabryszewska, Gworek 2020].…”

“…The highest accumulation of PCBs in plants near MWI was recorded in Tanacetum vulgare leaves (12.45 ng/g), and near IWI in the grass (4.3 ng/g) [Gabryszewska, Gworek 2020]. The accumulation of PCBs in soils, for both kinds of waste incinerators, was similar, at approximately 3 ng/g [Gabryszewska, Gworek 2020]. PCBs may also be formed during the combustion of biomass in the household stove, where concentration in the exhaust gases was 1.68 ng/kg [Moltó et al 2010].…”

Towards miniaturized electrochemical sensors for monitoring of polychlorinated biphenyls

“…As a result of their widespread usage, PCBs found their way into the environment through spills and leakage from electrical and other equipment during their production and transport as well as improper disposal and storage 4 . Furthermore, there are reports that these chemicals continue to be released through improper dumping of PCBs containing materials as well as open burning and incineration of both municipal and industrial waste 5 . It is estimated that out of the 1.3 million tons of PCBs that were produced globally, more than half have been released into the environment 6 .…”

Electrochemical Development of an Immunosensor for Detection Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for Environmental Analysis

“…Lastly, the PCBs high stability and lipophilicity nature resulted in them being widely distributed in the world ecosystem. PCBs occur in all environments matrixes and can be found in a variety of environmental media (water, atmosphere, soil, sediment, and creatures) [7][8][9][10]. These chemicals have become a significant danger to the environment and the health and safety of humans.…”