title: A preliminary investigation of unintentional POP emissions from thermal wire reclamation at industrial scrap metal recycling parks in China.
abstract: Thermal wire reclamation is considered to be a potential source of unintentional persistent organic pollutants (unintentional POPs). In this study, unintentional POP concentrations, including PCDD/Fs, dioxin like PCBs (dl-PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) and pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz), were quantified in flue gas and residual ash emissions from thermal wire reclamation at scrap metal dismantling parks in Zhejiang Province, China. The total average TEQ emissions of the investigated unintentional POPs from flue gas and residual ash in two typical scrap metal recycling plants ranged from 13.1 to 48.3ngTEQNm(-3) and 0.08 to 2.8ngTEQg(-1), respectively. The dominant PCDD/F congeners were OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, OCDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF, while PCB-126 and PCB-169 were the main contributors to the toxicity of the dl-PCBs. There were clear differences in the distribution dl-PCBs congeners contributing to the TEQ concentrations in the flue gas samples from the two plants. The PCN TEQs were dominated by PCN-66/67 and PCN-73. Although thermal wire reclamation in incinerators has been proposed as an alternative to open burning, there are still considerable environmental risks associated with regulated incinerators, and unintentional POP emissions from thermal wire reclamation sites need to be controlled by local government agencies.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 2871, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Guorui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guijin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Lirong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D004147:Dioxins / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D017745:Incineration; D008669:Metallurgy; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000032:analysis; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis; D059027:Recycling
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004147:Dioxins; D009281:Naphthalenes; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls