Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Fired Clay Bricks Incorporating Cigarette Butts.

Halenur Kurmus,Abbas Mohajerani,Stephen Grist

doi:10.3390/ma14082032

Abstract

Cigarette butts (CBs) are the most common littered waste in the world and may contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the incomplete combustion of tobacco during burning. Therefore, to investigate the potential PAH residual remaining in fired clay bricks (FCBs) incorporating CBs and examine the environmental impact of utilizing toxic waste in the production of FCBs, a comprehensive PAH extraction analysis was conducted. The Soxhlet extraction method was utilized to conduct a qualitative and quantitative analysis of sixteen toxic Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in FCB samples incorporating CBs using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The concentrations of the mean total (Σ)PAHs for FCBs incorporating 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% CBs by weight (wt) were found to be 0.183, 0.180, 0.242, 0.234, and 0.463 µg/mL. As expected, PAHs with higher water solubility and volatility, naphthalene, fluorene, anthracene, pyrene, fluoranthene, and chrysene were found at higher concentrations compared to lipophilic PAHs. The ΣPAH concentrations for all five FCB–CB mixes were well below the EPA Victoria solid waste hazard categorization threshold for industrial waste. Moreover, the samples were studied for their carbon content using the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur (CHNS) analyzer and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results confirm an almost 100% combustion process of CBs during the firing process. A content less than 0.3% suggests that all carbon within the FCB–CB mixture relatively disappeared during the firing process up to 1050 °C. However, further research regarding the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the production of FCBs incorporating CBs should be conducted.

Highlights

Over 5.4 trillion cigarettes are produced, and approximately one-third of cigarette butts (CBs) are littered into the nearby environment [1,2,3]
A content less than 0.3% suggests that all carbon within the fired clay bricks (FCBs)–CB mixture relatively disappeared during the firing process up to 1050 ◦ C
Chrysene and anthracene constituted 9.5% to 20.8% and 8.6% to 17.9%, respectively, of the mean ΣPAHs extracted from the brick samples

Summary

Introduction

Over 5.4 trillion cigarettes are produced, and approximately one-third of cigarette butts (CBs) are littered into the nearby environment [1,2,3]. In Australia, CBs are the most common littered waste under the miscellaneous category, representing 91.5% [3,4]. CBs persist in the environment for up to 10 years due to the composition of the filter. It is possible to classify more than 4000 chemical components generated during burning or distilled from the tobacco [3]. The role of the filter of the CB is to trap and absorb the particulate smoke components, consisting of more than 3500 non-volatile and semi-volatile chemical compounds.

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Conclusion