Monitoring and Dispersion Modeling of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) in the Ambient Air of Two Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators and a Coal-fired Power Plant

Abstract

The concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the ambient air of two municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) and one coal-fired power plant (TPP) were determined. Along with the sites mentioned above, eight ambient air samples were collected. Cluster analysis was carried out to determine the relationship of PBDE characteristics between each site. Finally, PBDE dispersion modeling in the atmosphere was applied by using ISCST3 (Industrial Source Complex Short Term 3) to assess the impact of the above two municipal solid waste incinerators and one coal-fired power plant on the ambient air. The total-PBDE concentrations in the ambient air were between 24.9 and 139 pg/Nm 3 , averaging 59.8 pg/Nm 3 (n = 16). The BDE-209, BDE-47 and BDE-207 were the most predominant three among all 30 PBDE congeners, which contributed more than 58%, 9%, and 4% of total-PBDE mass to the ambient air, respectively. The results of cluster analysis indicated that no direct correlations existed among the emission sources (MSWI-A, MSWI-B, TPP) and the receptors (sampling sites). From the results of dispersion modeling, the annual total PBDE concentration in ambient air contributed by the MSWI-A, MSWI-B, TPP together were found to be 0.0259% ± 0.0208%. Hence, the results of both cluster analysis and dispersion modeling showed that MWSI-A, MSWI-B, and TPP were definitely not the major contributors of PBDEs to the ambient air environment. The ashes collected from the air pollution control devices of both the MSWIs and the TPP are probably a more important environmental issue and therefore should be paid more attention to.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in atmosphere from three different typical industrial areas in Beijing, China

“…At the solid waste incineration plant, the median concentration (154 pg m À3 ) was similar to that of municipal solid waste incinerators in Taiwan, 70.8 pg m À3 in 2012 (Tu et al, 2012) and 52.1 pg m À3 in 2010 . In contrast to other countries, the PBDE levels at the solid waste incineration plant were higher than those at a municipal solid waste plant (6.30 pg m À3 ) and urban reference sites (3.5 pg m À3 ) in southern Sweden (Agrell et al, 2004).…”

“…In China, the contaminant status of PBDEs in the environment has been studied extensively, especially in areas of e-waste dismantling in southeast China (7980 pg m À3 ) (Chen et al, 2011;Ma et al, 2012;. In recent years, there have been many reports about PBDE pollutants in the atmosphere in China, including the levels of PBDEs in several urban regions (Chen et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2012;Zhao et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2014), in indoor and outdoor dust (Ni et al, 2011;Yu et al, 2012), at typical e-waste recycling areas (Deng et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2009;Ren et al, 2014), and several other industrial areas Tu et al, 2011Tu et al, , 2012Xiang et al, 2014). The characteristic, and transport and transformation patterns of PBDEs in industrial areas are closely related to the health of local populations.…”

Atmospheric Occurrence and Gas-Particle Partitioning of PBDEs in an Industrialised and Urban Area of Florence, Italy

“…In literature studies BDE-209 normally dominates the PBDE profiles, and can account in some cases for > 80% (Rahman et al, 2001;Law et al, 2006;Stapleton et al, 2006;Su et al, 2007;Cetin and Odabasi, 2008;Venier and Hites, 2008;Wilford et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2010a;Lin et al, 2012;Lin et al, 2012b;Shoeib et al, 2012;Tu et al, 2012), being in good agreement with the share in the global market of the deca-formulation, which at least for the year 2001, accounted for 83.3% of the overall PBDE production (La Guardia et al, 2006). In the present study, the relatively low percent of BDE-209 is likely attributed to debromination, or simply to a different BDE mixtures consumption behavior in the Tuscany region (or in Italy in general).…”

Atmospheric Concentrations and Dry Deposition of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers in Southern Taiwan

“…As a result of both the large quantities of PBDEs consumed and their widespread distribution, they have become ubiquitous environmental pollutants, found in air, water, soil, fly ash, sediment, and human tissues (Gill et al, 2004;Hites, 2004;Chao et al, 2007;Artha et al, 2011;Tu et al, 2011;Tu et al, 2012). Concerns about polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) have also increased, because PBDD/Fs can be formed during thermal processing of products containing BFRs (Lai et al, 2007).…”