Levels and Risk Assessment of Short and Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in Soil from Paper Mill Area

Abstract

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins are persistent organic pollutants, and chlorinated paraffins were widely used as sizing agent in the paper industry. In order to investigate the levels and risk assessment of short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in the paper mill plant, the surface soil and soil of different depths were collected.The concentrations, congener group profiles of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) in soil were determined by two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with electron capture-negative ion mass spectrometry. The SCCPs and MCCPs concentrations were 42-3853 ng·g-1 and 34-2091 ng·g-1. The chlorine contents were 59.9%-61.9% and 48.7%-52.8%. The concentrations of SCCPs and MCCPs were different in the soil collected in different sampling site. The concentration of SCCPs and MCCPs were relatively higher in soil of sewage treatment area and coating area. The CP levels in soil from the paper mill plant were at a high level compared with those in other regions. C10Cl6-7 and C14-15Cl5 were the main congener groups in most soil samples. The results of principal component analysis showed that the CP52 commercial products may be sources of SCCPs and MCCPs in the soil. The risk quotient (RQ) for SCCPs and MCCPs were assessed in soil of paper mill plant. The results showed that the RQ values for SCCPs in soil ranged from 0.01 to 0.73 which are the medium risk, and the RQ values for MCCPs in soil ranged from 0 to 0.07, which are the low risk. The human exposure values of children and adults are lower than TDI[10 μg·(kg·d)-1] in both cases. The health risks caused by non-dietary exposure under paper mill area are low.