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EMISSIONS OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS AS PRODUCTS OF INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION FROM INCINERATORS
Citation:
Lemieux*, P M., C W. Lee*, J D. Kilgroe*, AND J V. Ryan*. EMISSIONS OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS AS PRODUCTS OF INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION FROM INCINERATORS. Presented at International Conference on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies, Orlando, FL, 5/10-14/99.
Description:
The paper discusses emissions of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as products of incomplete combustion from incinerators. PCBs were used widely as industrial chemicals, particularly as additives in electrical transformer cooling oil. Growing evidence of PCBs' role as a persistent, bioaccumulative, human carcinogen led to the banning of their production and use as an industrial chemical in major industrialized countries including the U.S. However, PCBs are still being released into the environment as an unwanted by-product of combustion processes, particularly those associated with chlorinated materials. A subset of PCBs, coplanar isomers, exhibit biological activity similar to that of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs), a widely recognized by-product of combustion processes. Significant progress has been made over the last 10 years investigating the fundamental PCDD/PCDF formation mechanisms, while emission of PCBs from combustion devices have not been extensively investigated. The paper presents background information on some of the combustion sources that generate PCBs.