PCDD/Fs atmospheric deposition fluxes and soil contamination close to a municipal solid waste incinerator

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 83; no. 10; pp. 1366 - 1373
• Main Authors: Vassura, Ivano, Passarini, Fabrizio, Ferroni, Laura, Bernardi, Elena, Morselli, Luciano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adriatic Sea; air; Air Pollutants; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; analogs & derivatives; analysis; Applied sciences; Atmosphere; Atmosphere - chemistry; atmospheric deposition; Atmospheric fallout; Benzofurans; Benzofurans - analysis; Bulk deposition; chemistry; Cities; Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; dispersions; emissions; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollution; Environmental Pollution - statistics & numerical data; Exact sciences and technology; Incineration; Monitoring; municipal solid waste; PCDD/Fs; Pollution; polychlorinated dibenzodioxins; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analogs & derivatives; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analysis; polychlorinated dibenzofurans; soil; Soil - chemistry; Soil Pollutants; Soil Pollutants - analysis; soil pollution; Stack emissions; statistics & numerical data; suburban areas; urban areas; Adriatic Sea; MED, Adriatic Sea; Air pollution; Atmospheric fallout; PCDD/Fs; Stack emissions; Bulk deposition; Monitoring; Dioxin derivatives; Pollutant behavior; Urban waste; Soil pollution; Persistent organic pollutant; Incineration plant; Flux density; Surveillance; Chlorine Organic compounds; Solid waste; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.02.072

► Atmospheric Bulk deposition flows of PCDD/Fs were monitored nearby a MSW incinerator. ► PCDD/F congeners patterns in industrial and environmental samples are presented. ► Urban contribution to PCDD/Fs deposition resulted higher than industrial one. Bulk depositions and surface soil were collected in a suburban area, near the Adriatic Sea, in order to assess the contribution of a municipal solid waste incinerator to the area’s total contamination with polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs). Samples were collected at two sites, situated in the area most affected by plant emissions (according to the results of the Calpuff air dispersion model), and at an external site, considered as a reference. Results show that the studied area is subject to low contamination, as far as these compounds are concerned. Deposition fluxes range from 14.3 pg m −2 d −1 to 89.9 pg m −2 d −1 (0.75 pg-TEQ m −2 d −1 to 3.73 pg-TEQ m −2 d −1) and no significant flow differences are observed among the three monitored sites. Total soil concentration amounts to 93.8 ng kg −1 d.w. and 1.35 ng-TEQ kg −1 d.w, on average, and confirms a strong homogeneity in the studied area. Furthermore, from 2006 to 2009, no PCDD/Fs enrichment in the soil was noticed. Comparing the relative congener distributions in environmental samples with those found in stack emissions from the incineration plant, significant differences are observed in the PCDD:PCDF ratio and in the contribution of the most chlorinated congeners. From this study we can conclude that the incineration plant is not the main source of PCDD/Fs in the studied area, which is apparently characterized by a homogeneous and widespread contamination situation, typical of an urban area.