Chlorinated and Brominated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Metallurgical Plants.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated several metallurgical industries, including iron ore sintering, secondary aluminum smelting, and secondary lead smelting, as potential sources of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs. Stack gas emissions of 19 Cl-PAH and 19 Br-PAH congeners from the investigated metallurgical plants were in the ranges of 68.3-156 ng Nm-3 and 2.9-13.5 ng Nm-3, respectively. Cl/Br-PAHs in ambient air surrounding the investigated metallurgical plants were also quantified, and the ranges were 7.0-554 pg m-3 for Cl-PAHs and 3.0-126 pg m-3 for Br-PAHs. Toxic equivalent (TEQ) concentrations of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs in the ambient air samples were in the ranges of 0.03-3.61 pg TEQ m-3 and 0.001-0.23 pg TEQ m-3, respectively. These TEQs were slightly higher than or comparable to those of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds. Congener profiles of Cl-PAHs emitted from iron ore sintering, secondary aluminum smelting, and secondary lead smelting facilities were clarified and their congener profiles were obviously different from that from waste incinerators. Comparisons of Cl/Br-PAH congener profiles between surrounding air samples and stack gas emissions indicated that metallurgical emissions affected the surrounding environment to some extent.