title: PCDD/Fs in ambient air in north-east Italy: the role of a MSWI inside an industrial area.
abstract: The stack gases of a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI), and ambient air were sampled in four locations around the plant for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs). The sampling area was close to an industrial area near Trieste, in north-east Italy. The purpose of the study was to estimate the impact of the MSWI emissions and to distinguish the contribution of these emissions from other potential emission sources in the industrial area. PCDD/F atmospheric concentrations were similar to those generally detected in urban-rural areas with one location about 2-3 times more contaminated than the others. Since the most contaminated location was inside the industrial area but upwind of the MSWI, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to establish whether other sources were the cause. This analysis clearly showed that a local steel plant's emission was the main source of PCDDs/Fs in ambient air. This study highlights the usefulness of multivariate data analysis such as PCA to identify, among different potential emission sources, the one really responsible for the contamination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Via La Masa 19, 20156 Milano, Italy. colombo@marionegri.it
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Benfenati
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lodi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marras
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rotella
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Senese
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fattore
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fanelli
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis*; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D017745:Incineration; D007558:Italy; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001572:Benzofurans; D000072338:Dibenzofurans, Polychlorinated; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins