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PCDD AND PCDF EMISSIONS FROM SIMULATED SUGARCANE FIELD BURNING
Citation:
GULLETT, B. K., A. TOUATI, J. HUWE, AND H. HAKK. PCDD AND PCDF EMISSIONS FROM SIMULATED SUGARCANE FIELD BURNING. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 40(20):6228-6234, (2006).
Description:
The emissions from simulated sugarcane field burns were sampled and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs). Sugarcane leaves from Hawaii and Florida were burned in a manner simulating the natural physical dimensions and biomass density found during pre-harvest field burning. Eight composite burn tests consisting of 3 to 33 kg of biomass were conducted. Emission factor calculations using sampled concentration and measured mass loss compared well with carbon balance methods commonly used in field sampling. The two sources of sugarcane had distinctive emission levels, as did tests on separate gatherings of the Florida sugarcane. The Hawaii sugarcane, as well as most of the Florida sugarcane tests, had emission values which are well above the value of 5 ng toxic equivalent per kg carbon burned commonly attributed to biomass combustion. Application of this emission factor range to the amount of U.S. sugarcane fields burned suggests that this practice may be a relatively minor source of PCDDs and PCDFs in the U.S. national inventory.