Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of volatile organic compounds emitted from different plastic solid waste recycling workshops

Zhao, He; Li, Guiying; Chen, Jiangyao; Huang, Yong; An, Taicheng; Zhang, Chaosheng

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2015.01.004

Cited by 180 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Some metals are also used as catalysts during plastic synthesis, as well as decoration/coatings for plastic products, resulting in contamination of some plastic wastes by nonadditive metals Guney and Zagury 2012;Kotori et al 2012). During mechanical recycling of plastics, such hazardous chemicals can be released into the ambient environment, especially when crude recycling methods are used or there are limited pollution control measures (Tang et al 2014;He et al 2015). In recent years, mechanical recycling of plastic wastes using environmentally unfriendly and crude technologies has increased in developing countries (Pacheco et al 2012;Huang et al 2013;Yang and Buekens 2014).…”

Section: Responsible Editor: Ester Heathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health

Tang

Huang

Yang

et al. 2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Road dusts were collected from an area where intense mechanical recycling of plastic wastes occurs in Wen'an, north China. These dusts were investigated for polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals contamination to assess the health risk related to these components. Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) and Σ 21 PBDE concentrations in these dusts ranged from 2.67 to 10, 424 ng g −1 and from 3.23 to 10,640 ng g −1 , respectively.These PBDE concentrations were comparable to those observed in road dust from e-waste recycling areas but were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than concentrations in outdoor or road dusts from other areas. This indicates that road dusts in the study area have high levels of PBDE pollution. BDE-209 was the predominant congener, accounting for 86.3 % of the total PBDE content in dusts. Thus, commercial deca-BDE products were the dominant source. The average concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sb, and Zn in these same dust samples were 10. 1, 0.495, 112, 54.7, 0.150, 71.8, 10.6, and 186 mg kg, respectively. The geoaccumulation index suggests that road dusts in this area are moderately to heavily polluted with Cd, Hg, and Sb. This study shows that plastic waste processing is a major source of toxic pollutants in road dusts in this area. Although the health risk from exposure to dust PBDEs was low, levels of some heavy metals in this dust exceeded acceptable risk levels for children and are of great concern.

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Section: Responsible Editor: Ester Heathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health

Tang

Huang

Yang

et al. 2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…Several studies have recently reported the emission of harmful compounds from material recycling processes. Dozens of volatile organic compounds were identified in the air and the workers suffered acute and chronic health risks in poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene) (ABS) and polystyrene (PS) recycling workshops (Huang et al, 2013;He et al, 2015). High levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and PAEs were also measured in the air from a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic waste recycling plant (Tsai et al, 2009;He et al, 2015).…”

Section: -2000 Mg Kgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contamination and risk of heavy metals in soils and sediments from a typical plastic waste recycling area in North China

Tang

Zhang

Huang

et al. 2015

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

140

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a b s t r a c tPlastic wastes are increasingly being recycled in many countries. However, available information on the metals released into the environment during recycling processes is rare. In this study, the contamination features and risks of eight heavy metals in soils and sediments were investigated in Wen'an, a typical plastic recycling area in North China. The surface soils and sediments have suffered from moderate to high metal pollution and in particular, high Cd and Hg pollution. The mean concentrations of Cd and Hg were 0.355 and 0.408 mg kg À 1 , respectively, in the soils and 1.53 and 2.10 mg kg À 1 , respectively, in the sediments. The findings suggested that there is considerable to high potential ecological risks in more than half of the soils and high potential ecological risk in almost all sediments. Although the health risk levels from exposure to soil metals were acceptable for adults, the non-carcinogenic risks to local children exceeded the acceptable level. Source assessment indicated that heavy metals in soils and sediments were mainly derived from inputs from poorly controlled plastic waste recycling operations in this area. The results suggested that the risks associated with heavy metal pollution from plastic waste recycling should be of great concern.

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“…2 shows, before the treatment, the hazard ratios of benzene (3.46) on day 1 and m/p-xylene (1.07) on day 10 were both higher than 1. This indicates that their concentrations exceed the reference levels of concern [35,36]. Other VOCs had hazard ratios ranging from 0.1 to 1, including m/p-xylene (0.79 on day 1), benzene (0.55, 0.12 and 0.15 on days 10, 20 and 30), o-xylene (0.34 and 0.32 on days 1 and 10), and toluene (0.13 on day 1).…”

Section: Risk Attenuation Of Vocs and Popsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health risk attenuation by simultaneous elimination of atmospheric VOCs and POPs from an e-waste dismantling workshop by an integrated de-dusting with decontamination technique

Chen

Zhang

et al. 2016

Chemical Engineering Journal

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Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of volatile organic compounds emitted from different plastic solid waste recycling workshops

Cited by 180 publications

References 55 publications

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and heavy metals in road dusts from a plastic waste recycling area in north China: implications for human health

Contamination and risk of heavy metals in soils and sediments from a typical plastic waste recycling area in North China

The health risk attenuation by simultaneous elimination of atmospheric VOCs and POPs from an e-waste dismantling workshop by an integrated de-dusting with decontamination technique

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