Assessing forest fire as a potential PCDD/F source in Queensland, Australia.
Forest fires are suggested as a potential and significant source of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), even though no studies to date provide sufficient evidence to confirm forest fires as a source of PCDD/Fs. Recent investigations in Queensland, Australia have identified a widespread contamination of PCDDs (in particular OCDD) in soils and sediments in the coastal region from an unknown source of PCDD/Fs. Queensland is predominately rural; it has few known anthropogenic sources of PCDD/Fs, whereas forest fires are a frequent occurrence. This study was conducted to assess forest fires as a potential source of the unknown PCDD/F contamination in Queensland. A combustion experiment was designed to assess the overall mass of PCDD/Fs before and after a simulated forest fire. The results from this study did not identify an increase in sigmaPCDD/Fs or OCDD after the combustion process. However, specific non-2,3,7,8 substituted lower chlorinated PCDD/Fs were elevated after the combustion process, suggesting formation from a precursor. The results from this study indicate that forest fires are unlikely to be the source of the unknown PCDD contamination in Queensland, rather they are a key mechanism for the redistribution of PCDD/Fs from existing sources and precursors.
National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (EnTox), University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia 4108. j.prange@griffith.edu.au
Joelle A
JA
Prange
Caroline
C
Gaus
Roland
R
Weber
Olaf
O
Päpke
Jochen F
JF
Müller
D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis*; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005390:Fires; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis*; D011793:Queensland; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014197:Trees
D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D012989:Soil Pollutants