You are here:
Aerosat sampling of PCDD/PCDF emissions from the Gulf oil spill in situ burns
Citation:
Aurell, J. AND B. K. GULLETT. Aerosat sampling of PCDD/PCDF emissions from the Gulf oil spill in situ burns. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Indianapolis, IN, 44(24):9431-9437, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
journal article
Description:
Emissions from the in situ burning of oil in the Gulf of Mexico after the catastrophic failure of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform were sampled for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs). A battery-operated instrument package was lofted into the plumes of 27 surface oil fires over a period of four days via a tethered aerostat to determine and characterize emissions of PCDD/PCDF. A single composite sample resulted in an emission factor of 2.0 ng toxic equivalency (TEQ) per kg of carbon burned, or 1.7 ng TEQ per kg of oil burned, determined by a carbon balance method. The average plume concentration approximately 200-300 m from the fire and about 75-200 m above sea level was < 0.0002 ng TEQ/m3. Equating this total concentration to 2,3,7,8-TCDD, this concentration is more than three orders of magnitude less than the air screening risk level for a worker of 0.81 ng 2,3,7,8-TCDD/m3 (cancer) and 1.8 ng 2,3,7,8-TCDD /m3 (non-cancer) even if the plumes had impinged on the local workers.
URLs/Downloads:
AEROSAT SAMPLING OF PCDD/PCDF EMISSIONS FROM THE GULF OIL SPILL IN SITU BURNS
Abstract
Website