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Characterization of polychlorinated naphthalenes in stack gas emissions from waste incinerators

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Abstract

Nine typical waste incinerating plants were investigated for polychlorinated naphthalene (PCN) contents in their stack gas. The incinerators investigated include those used to incinerate municipal solid, aviation, medical, and hazardous wastes including those encountered in cement kilns. PCNs were qualified and quantified by isotope dilution high resolution gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry techniques. An unexpectedly high concentration of PCNs (13,000 ng Nm−3) was found in the stack gas emitted from one waste incinerator. The PCN concentrations ranged from 97.6 to 874 ng Nm−3 in the other waste incinerators. The PCN profiles were dominated by lower chlorinated homologues, with mono- to tetra-CNs being the main homologues present. Furthermore, the relationships between PCNs and other unintentional persistent organic pollutants involving polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphenyls, hexachlorobenzene, and pentachlorobenzene were examined to ascertain the closeness or otherwise of their formation mechanisms. A good correlation was observed between ΣPCN (tetra- to octa-CN) and ΣPCDF (tetra- to octa-CDF) concentrations suggesting that a close relationship may exist between their formation mechanisms. The results would provide an improved understanding of PCN emissions from waste incinerators.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for the present work was obtained from the National 973 Program (nos. 2011CB201500 and 2009CB421606), Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-JS406) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21037003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 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

    Jicheng Hu, Minghui Zheng, Wenbin Liu, Changliang Li, Zhiqiang Nie, Guorui Liu, Bing Zhang, Ke Xiao & Lirong Gao

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  1. Jicheng Hu
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  2. Minghui Zheng
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  3. Wenbin Liu
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  4. Changliang Li
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  7. Bing Zhang
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  8. Ke Xiao
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  9. Lirong Gao
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Correspondence to Minghui Zheng.

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Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

Electronic supplementary material

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ESM 1

Sample preparation and analysis for PCDD/Fs, PCBs, HxCBz and PeCBz; relative potency factors (RPFs) of the PCN congeners (Table S1); recoveries of sampling and extraction standards in the samples (Table S2); concentrations of PCDD/F, PCB, HxCBz, and PeCBz in the stack gas samples (Table S3) and correlation among the concentrations of ΣPCNs and other U-POPs (Fig. S1); ratios of some characteristic PCN congeners in technical formulations of PCNs and PCBs (Fig. S2). DOCX 210 kb

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Hu, J., Zheng, M., Liu, W. et al. Characterization of polychlorinated naphthalenes in stack gas emissions from waste incinerators. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 2905–2911 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1218-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1218-0

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