Occurrence and characteristics of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in stack gas emissions from industrial thermal processes

The occurrence and characteristics of 2,3,7,8-substituted polybrominated and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/F and PCDD/F) from various combustion and metallurgic industrial thermal processes were investigated. PBDD/F levels from metallurgic processes (TEQ∗ concentrations from 0.14 to 1.5 ng N m−3, mass concentrations from 0.56 to 5.8 ng N m−3) were markedly higher than those from combustion processes (TEQ∗ concentrations from 0.010 to 0.054 ng N m−3, mass concentrations from 0.025 to 0.15 ng N m−3). This indicated that metallurgic processes could be important sources of PBDD/F. Consequently, more attention should be paid to the metallurgical emission sources in addition to combustion of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and related products. Specific isomeric patterns for PCDD/F from various industrial sources were highly consistent, while PBDD/F patterns were not. This revealed that PCDD/F might form through a common mechanism such as de novo synthesis mechanism, while PBDD/F might form by different mechanisms in thermal processes such as precursor mechanisms. Finally, an approach to identify the PBDD/F sources in ambient air by using the PBDD/F to PCDD/F ratio was developed.