Typical pollutants in bottom ashes from a typical medical waste incinerator.
Incineration of medical waste (MW) is an important alternative way for disposal of this type of hazardous waste, especially in China because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARs) in 2003. Thus, far, fly ash has received much attention but less attention has been paid to bottom ash. In this study, bottom ash samples were collected from a typical MW incinerator, and typical pollutants including heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the ash were examined. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy results indicated that CaO, SiO(2) and Al(2)O(3) were the main components of the bottom ash. Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy showed that the ash contained large amounts of heavy metals, including Zn, Ti, Ba, Cu, Pb, Mn, Cr, Ni and Sn. Most of the heavy metals (e.g., Ba, Cr, Ni, and Sn) presented in the residual fraction; whereas Mn, Pb and Zn presented in Fe-Mn oxides fraction, and Cu in organic-matter fraction. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure tests indicated that the leached amounts of heavy metals were well below the limits. The sum of 16 US EPA priority PAHs (Sigma PAHs) varied from 10.30 to 38.14 mg kg(-1), and the total amounts of carcinogenic PAHs ranged between 4.09 and 16.95 mg kg(-1), exceeding the limits regulated by several countries. This research provides basic information for the evaluation of the environmental risk of MW incinerator bottom ash.
Zhao
Lijuan
L
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing 100085, China.
Zhang
Fu-Shen
FS
Chen
Mengjun
M
Liu
Zhengang
Z
Wu
Da Bo Jianzhi
DB
D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D017745:Incineration; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008506:Medical Waste / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008506:Medical Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical