title: Wastewater treatment plants and landfills emit volatile methyl siloxanes (VMSs) to the atmosphere: investigations using a new passive air sampler.
abstract: Volatile methyl siloxanes (VMSs) are a class of chemicals with an increasing range of applications and widespread distribution in the environment. Passive air samplers (PAS) comprising sorbent-impregnated polyurethane-foam (SIP) disks were first calibrated and then deployed around two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and at two landfill sites to investigate inputs of VMSs to air. SIP-derived air concentrations for ΣVMSs (ng/m(3)) at background sites on the perimeter of the WWTP were 479 ± 82.3 and comparable to results for the upwind samples at the landfills (333 ± 194). Order of magnitude higher concentrations of ΣVMSs (ng/m(3)) were found for on-site samples at the WWTPs (3980 ± 2620) and landfills (4670 ± 3360). Yearly emissions (kg/yr) to air were estimated and ranged from 60-2100 and 80-250, respectively, for the cyclic VMSs. These findings demonstrate and quantify for the first time, waste sector emissions of VMSs to the atmosphere.
authors.affiliation: Air Quality Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Mahiba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoeib
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ahrens
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harner
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012833:Siloxanes / Q000032:analysis*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D012833:Siloxanes; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds