Concentrations, profiles, and emission factors of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants in fly ash from coking processes

Abstract

The coking process has been found to be an important source of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UP-POPs). However, the concentrations, profiles, and emission factors of UP-POPs in fly ash from coke plants have not been studied. In this study, six UP-POPs (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz), and pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz)) were identified and quantified in fly ash from eight coke plants. The average concentrations of the PCDDs, PCDFs, and “dioxin-like” PCBs were 1.5, 2.26, and 0.26pgTEQg−1, respectively, and the average concentrations of the PCNs, HxCBz, and PeCBz were 256, 290, and 146pgg−1, respectively. The proportion each homolog contributed to the total concentration of the PCDFs, PCBs, and PCNs decreased with increasing chlorination level. The PCDFs contributed the biggest proportion of the total UP-POPs toxic equivalents (TEQs), and the average emission factors in fly ash were 10.5, 17.3, and 1.82ngTEQt−1 for the PCDDs, PCDFs, and “dioxin-like” PCBs, respectively, and 1792, 2028, and 1025ngt−1 for the PCNs, HxCBz, and PeCBz, respectively. These data are essential for establishing an integrated UP-POP release inventory.