Abstract
ABSTRACT The emission levels and profiles of unintentionally formed polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) were comprehensively investigated in flue gases released from 16 regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) belonging to 8 pharmaceutical industries (PIs) in China. The PCDD/F total concentrations and TEQ values with great variation, ranged from 0.148–9.051 ng m–3 and 0.008–0.255 ng I-TEQ m–3, respectively. Emission levels of most RTOs were lower than the emission standard of China (0.1 ng I-TEQ m–3), yet two were above 0.25 ng I-TEQ m–3. The PCDD/F concentrations in flue gases were in the order of HWIs > MSWIs > PIs. OCDD was identified to be the dominant congener in most RTOs, accounting for 21–71 wt%. In addition, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDF, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDF were effective TEQ indicators, especially for 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.995. The estimated annual emission amount (AE) of PCDD/Fs for PIs in this study was in the range of 0.435–11.016 mg I-TEQ year–1, with an average of 2.65 mg I-TEQ year–1. It was estimated that 19.96 g I-TEQ of PCDD/Fs were emitted from Chinese PIs to atmosphere in 2017. This is the first comprehensive investigation on the unintentional emissions of PCDD/Fs from PIs in China.
Highlights
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have received extensive attention for their high toxicities to environment and human
In order to update the Toolkit (2013 version), and to fill up the research gaps, this study aims to estimate annual emission amount base on investigating the emission levels and profiles of Polychlorinated dibenzop-dioxins (PCDDs)/Fs in flue gases released from eight typical pharmaceutical industries (PIs) in China
Emission Levels of PCDD/Fs in Various regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) The concentration and I-TEQ value of PCDD/Fs in flue gases of 16 RTOs are shown in Fig. 1 and are summarized in Table 2 in detail
Summary
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have received extensive attention for their high toxicities to environment and human. The Stockholm Convention on POPs, established by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), aims to minimize or eliminate both of the production and the use of POPs. Parties need to identify sources of POPs and to accurately compile lists of POPs emitted into the environment (Black et al, 2012). Polychlorinated dibenzop-dioxins (PCDDs) and poly-chlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are formed unintentionally during chemical production and municipal solid waste incineration. PCDD/Fs as important components of POPs to which humans are exposed, have been proven to be carcinogenic, neurotoxic and immunotoxic (Tsai et al, 2014; Hsieh et al, 2018b; Hung et al, 2018). The source categories listed in the Toolkit are divided
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