title: Atmospheric occurrence and health risks of PCDD/Fs, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polychlorinated naphthalenes by air inhalation in metallurgical plants.
abstract: Metallurgical plants are important sources of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs). It is significant to evaluate the air levels and human risks of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PCNs in metallurgical plants considering their adverse effects on human health and thousands of metallurgical plants being in operation in China. The estimated inhalation intakes of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PCNs together in eight iron ore sintering plants, three secondary copper plants, four secondary aluminum plants, and one secondary lead plant were 4.9-213.4, 21.4-4026.4, 28.7-630, and 11.7fgTEQkg-1day-1, respectively, and the corresponding cancer risks were estimated to be 8.7×10-7to 3.8×10-5, 5.1×10-6to 1.1×10-4, 3.8×10-6to 7.1×10-4, and 2.1×10-6, respectively. The estimated cancer risk were higher than 100 per million people for three secondary aluminum and copper smelters among the sixteen metallurgical plants, indicating high cancer risks. Stack gas samples from metallurgical plants were also collected and analyzed for comparing their emission profiles with that of air samples. The comparison of PCDD/F, PCB and PCN profiles between air samples and stack gas samples by similarity calculation and principal component analysis suggested the influence of stack gas emissions from metallurgical plants on surrounding air. These results are helpful for understanding the exposure risk to PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PCNs in numerous metallurgical plants being operation in China.
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: grliu@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guorui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Minghui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jin
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qingqing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhu
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yuyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
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; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Inhalation risk; Metallurgical sources; Persistent organic pollutants; Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs); Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs)