Determination of levels of persistent organic pollutants (PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs, PBDEs, PCBs, and PBBs) in atmosphere near a municipal solid waste incinerator

This work develops a comprehensive approach for quantitatively analyzing polychlorinated and polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs/PBDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs/PBDFs), biphenyls (PCBs/PBBs) and diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). This technique, based on multiple (silica, alumina, and active carbon) columns, can be applied to prepare samples for determining the five group compounds based on high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. The method was also validated by analyses of blank and spiked samples. In the sampled air, the mean PCDD/F, PCB, PBDD/F, PBDE, and PBB concentrations were 59.6 fg WHO-TEQ N m−3, 6.74 fg WHO-TEQ N m−3, 12.2 fg WHO-TEQ N m−3, 52 100 fg N m−3, and 341 fg N m−3, respectively. The WHO-TEQ of dioxin-like PCB and PBDD/Fs counted for 8.9% and 16% of total TEQ (summed over PCDD/Fs, PBDD/Fs, and dioxin-like PCBs), respectively, suggesting that the atmospheric concentrations of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds should be regulated together because of the persistence and toxicity of PBDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs.