title: Atmospheric emission of polychlorinated biphenyls from multiple industrial thermal processes.
abstract: In this study, field measurements were conducted to estimate and characterize the atmospheric emission levels and profiles of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from multiple industrial thermal processes. The emission levels and profiles of PCBs from five types of thermal processes at twenty-three plants were studied and compared with eight processes reported in our previous studies. Correlation analysis was preformed to identify a marker congener for emission of ΣPCB. A significant correlation was observed between congener CB-118 and ΣPCB (R(2)=0.65 and p<0.01), which suggests that CB-118 is a good marker congener for emission of ΣPCB. The profiles of PCBs emitted from the thirteen thermal processes were compared, and this information could be used for studying source-receptor relationships and identifying the specific sources of PCBs. To prioritize the sources for control, the concentrations of PCBs from thirteen industrial thermal sources were compared. The PCB concentrations from secondary zinc smelting and thermal wire reclamation were about one to three order magnitude higher than those of other sources, which suggests that these two sources be given priority in PCB source control. Finally, the atmospheric emission factors of PCBs from the thirteen industrial sources were summarized, and these data will be useful for developing an integrated emission inventory of PCBs.
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: Guorui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Mingwei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Shujun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jicheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007221:Industry; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls