Simple and rapid determination of PCDD/Fs in flue gases from various waste incinerators in China using DR-EcoScreen cells

• We construct an automated sample preparation device (SPD-600) for bioassay.
• We construct a new, sensitive and rapid reporter gene system for PCDD/Fs.
• Utilizing SPD-600 coupled cell to determine four different flue gases in China.
• Utilizing SPD-600 coupled cell can be a useful and prescreening method in China.

In developing countries such as China, there is a strong need for simple and rapid bioassays for the determination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in environmental samples; i.e., flue gas and fly ash from waste incinerators. In this study, we applied the DR-EcoScreen cell (DR-cell) assay to determination of PCDD/Fs in 78 flue gas samples obtained from various waste incinerators in China between 2009 and 2011. The flue gas samples were obtained from four kinds of incinerators, classified into hazardous, medical and municipal-solid waste, and iron ore sintering, and the flue gas extracts were cleaned up using an SPD-600 automated-sample preparation device for DR-cell assay. The PCDD/Fs values obtained from the DR-cell assay were compared with those obtained from conventional high resolution gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC–HRMS) analysis. The bioanalytical equivalent (BEQ) values obtained from the DR-cell assay were very closely correlated with the international toxicity equivalent (I-TEQ) values from HRGC–HRMS analysis (r2 = 0.98, n = 78), while the BEQ values were 5.52-fold higher than the I-TEQ values, as the PCDFs, which account for 80% of the total I-TEQ value, were overestimated by DR cell-assay. Therefore, we multiplied the BEQ values from the DR-cell assay by a conversion coefficient (0.181, the reciprocal of 5.52), and could approximate the TEQ values from the HRGC–HRMS analysis. These results suggest that the DR-cell assay combined with SPD-600 cleanup provides a promising method for the simple and rapid screening of PCDD/Fs levels in flue gas samples, such as those from various waste incinerators in China.