Cytotoxicity of the exhaust gas from a thermal reactor of MSWI baghouse ash

Baghouse ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plant was heated from 25 °C to 800 °C under nitrogen in a fixed-bed reactor. The exhaust gas was passed sequentially through water, acetone and cyclohexane. The cytotoxicity testing of the three adsorbates was done with the MRC-5 cell line and the percentage cell survival was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5(3-carboxymethoxyphenol)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) analysis. The highest level of toxicity of the exhaust gas was observed at 500 °C. The total cytotoxicity of the three adsorbates at any treatment temperature was found to be a function of the sum of organic carbon (TOC), inorganic carbon (IC) and molecular chlorine (Cl2), of which, molecular chlorine was quantitatively the greatest.