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Effect of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) on PCDD/F Emissions from Open Burning of Biomass
Citation:
Munoz, M., B. Gullett, A. Touati, AND R. Font. Effect of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) on PCDD/F Emissions from Open Burning of Biomass. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 46(17):9308-9314, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
This paper provides a preliminary examination of whether pesticides applied to biomass can result in enhanced formation of PCDD/PCDF.
Description:
Use of pesticides prior to agricultural burning and overspray onto forests and grasslands prior to fires has been cited as a cause of halogenated organic compound emissions from biomass combustion. Some pesticides such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are used in considerable quantity in the USA and Europe for several crops. South America and countries from the former Soviet Union are also major consumers. 2,4-D has a chemical structure readily amenable to reactively form polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (PCD/Fs) under combustion conditions. To understand the effect of leaf-surface pesticides on emissions of PCDD/F during biomass burns, combustion experiments simulating the open burning of biomass were conducted. Biomass was sprayed with pesticide at one and ten times the manufacturer’s recommended application concentration, burned in an open burn test facility, and emission samples were collected, analyzed and compared against emission samples from burning untreated biomass. Results from burns of pine branches spiked with pesticide, confirmed with ANOVA analysis at a 95% confidence level, showed a significant measurable increase in the PCDD/F TEQ emissions when burning biomass at ten times the recommended pesticide concentration.
