Emission of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) from municipal waste incinerators in China

• Level of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PeCBz, and HxCBz in flue gas from MWI in China was reported.
• Emission factors of PeCBz (144 μg/t) and HxCBz (84.7 μg/t) in flue gas from MWI were given.
• Profiles of PCBs and dl-PCBs in both gaseous and fly ash phase were stated.
• Removal efficiencies of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PeCBz, and HxCBz by air pollution control device were evaluated.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz) and hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz), which are listed in the Stockholm Convention, are commonly known as unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs). As municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) have burgeoned in China, the emission of UPOPs is of great concerns. Compared to the extensive studies of PCDD/Fs emission, not much information of non-dioxin UPOPs (i.e., PCBs, HxCBz, and PeCBz) is available. In the present study, samples from raw gas (RG) after boiler, stack gas (SG) after air pollution control devices (APCDs) and fly ash (FA) samples were collected from typical MWIs in China. The analyses of SG samples indicate that PCDD/Fs are the major contributor to TEQ value, but non-dioxin UPOPs are the dominant compounds in terms of mass concentration. The mean emission factors of dl-PCBs, PeCBz, and HxCBz in SG are 0.372, 144, and 84.7 μg/t, respectively. In contrast with gaseous samples, FA contains higher mass concentration of PCDD/Fs and PCBs than that of PeCBz and HxCBz. In terms of homologues distribution of PCBs, di- to tetra-CBs were the predominant species in both SG and FA samples. PCB-126 is the major contributor to the TEQ concentration. The comparison of UPOPs composition in SG and RG samples shows that activated carbon adsorption process is capable of removing most PCDD/Fs, but less efficient for the removal of non-dioxin UPOPs.

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