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Waste combustion as a source of ambient air polybrominated diphenylesters (PBDEs)
Citation:
Wyrzykowska-Ceradini, B., B. K. GULLETT, D. G. TABOR, AND A. TOUATI. Waste combustion as a source of ambient air polybrominated diphenylesters (PBDEs). ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 45(24):4008-4014, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
journal article
Description:
The first comprehensive set of U.S. data on PBDE concentrations from waste combustion, with more than 40 BDE congeners reported, was compared to ambient air levels of bromodiphenylethers in the U.S. Concentrations of PBDEs were determined in the raw, pre-air pollution control system (pre-APCS) flue gas and clean, post-APCS flue gas of a municipal waste combustor (MWC) during steady state and transient (start-up and shut-down) operations. In the raw flue gas, mean concentrations of the sum of 42 PBDE congeners were: 9.2 ng per dscm for steady state and 33 ng per dscm for transients. In the post-APCS flue gas, total PBDEs were 0.13 and 1.7 ng per dscm for steady state and transients, respectively. The average efficiency of the APCS for PBDE removal was estimated as 98.6%. The major PBDE congeners in the flue gases were those typically found in PBDE mixes (TeBDE-47, PeBDE-99, PeBDE-I00, HxBDE-153, HpBDE-183, OcBDE-197, NoBDE-206, NoBDE-207, NoBDE-208, DcBDE-209). Transient conditions were found typically increase average PBDE concentrations from around 4 to 13 times those of steady state, and to affect PBDE homologue and isomer distributions in the flue gases. Some of the transient samples exhibited enrichment of lowly brominated congeners which are minor or not present in the mixtures, suggesting that debromination occurs during combustion. Congeners substituted in non- and monooortho positions (TeBDE-77, PeBDE-126, HxBDE-156 and -169) were detected mostly during the transients. The PBDE profiles in the raw flue gas reflect the historical production and usage pattern of PBDE-based flame retardants in North America, which favors Penta- and Deca- BDE formulations. The pattern of selected, routinely measured in the environment, PBDEs (TeBDE-47, PeBDE-99, PeBDE-I00, HxBDE-153 and DcBDEE209) was similar in the MWC stack emissions and profiles most commonly reported for the U.S. atmosphere.
URLs/Downloads:
WASTE COMBUSTION AS A SOURCE OF AMBIENT AIR POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYLESTERS (PBDES)
Website
1070 WYRZYKOWSKA.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 313 KB, about PDF)