Atmospheric deposition of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans on the soils in the vicinity of municipal solid waste incinerators.
This study focuses on the atmospheric deposition of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) on the soils in the vicinity of two municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs), which were located in the Gangshan (GS) and the Renwu (RW) Townships of southern Taiwan. PCDD/Fs in the soils were sampled simultaneously with those in the ambient air and analyzed for 17 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs. The results show that the mean contents of PCDD/Fs in the soils near MSWI-GS and MSWI-RW were 2.65 and 1.20 ng I-TEQ/kg dry weight, respectively. Annual wet deposition fluxes of total PCDD/Fs were 119 and 113 ng/m(2)-year in the ambient air near MSWI-GS and MSWI-RW, respectively. The results obtained in this study are much higher than those estimated for the Atlantic Ocean, where the average wet deposition was only 45 ng/m(2)-year. The annual dry deposition fluxes accounted for 58.2 and 66.7%, respectively, indicating that dry deposition was more dominant than wet deposition in the atmospheric deposition processes. The congener profiles of 17 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs showed that OCDD dominates in the soils. The contributions of OCDD in the soils near MSWI-GS and MSWI-RW were 73.4 and 67.1%, respectively, while they were only 41.4 and 31.2% in the atmospheric deposition, respectively. These results imply that OCDD is more persistent in the environment than other congeners. The results of the present study strongly suggest that exposure to PCDD/Fs in these areas should be reduced.
Wu
Yee-Lin
YL
Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Lin
Long-Full
LF
Shih
Shun-I
SI
Yu
Kuei-Min
KM
Hsieh
Lien-Te
LT
Wang
Lin-Chi
LC
Chang-Chien
Guo-Ping
GP
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000032:analysis*; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D013624:Taiwan
D000393:Air Pollutants; D001572:Benzofurans; D004147:Dioxins; D012987:Soil; C023614:dibenzofuran; C020887:dibenzo(1,4)dioxin