Abstract
Abstract. The production and use of plastics is increasing rapidly as they are widely used in packaging, construction materials, furniture, foils, etc. As a consequence of their widespread use and often disposable nature, vast streams of plastic waste are continuously generated, a considerable fraction of which are combusted in households worldwide. In this paper, various types of commonly used plastics (PE, PET, PP, PU, PVC, PS, ABS) as well as treated wood samples (LDF, low-density fibreboard) and firewood were combusted separately in a test stove under controlled conditions. The particulates emitted during the combustion test were collected on filters, potential tracers for each waste type were identified by GC-MS, and their relative abundances were determined. The emission factor of 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene was found to be higher for polymers containing aromatic rings in their structure. The application of terphenyls and quaterphenyls as tracer compounds has also been investigated. The trimer of styrene was found to be a potential tracer for the combustion of polystyrene and/or styrene-containing copolymers. Novel tracers were proposed for the burning of PET and furniture plates (LDF), which are among the most widely used waste types burned in households.
Highlights
Air pollution derived from waste combustion affects human health and may contribute to climate change (Manisalidis et al, 2020)
Terphenyls were identified in particulates from the burning of several types of plastic waste, but they were found in higher relative concentrations from the burning plastics inherently containing aromatic structures (PET, PS, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS))
The aromatic ring in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer chain is bonded in the para-position (1–4 position), whereas in the other polymers (ABS, PS) it is bonded by a single C–C bond to the polymer chain
Summary
Air pollution derived from waste combustion affects human health and may contribute to climate change (Manisalidis et al, 2020). Phthalic acid was found in high abundance in the smoke from burning low-quality coal in China (He et al, 2018), and it was found to be emitted from other (traffic-related or biomass burning) sources (Fraser et al, 2003; Fine et al, 2004; Al-Naiema and Stone, 2017), which challenges its use as a specific tracer Nitroarenes such as 1-nitropyrene, 1,3-dinitropyrene, 1,6dinitropyrene, and 1,8-dinitropyrene were found in particulates from the burning of different types of plastics Samples were screened for potentially new and specific tracers with relative mass fractions that may help assess the contribution of waste burning to particulate (PM10) pollution in the atmosphere
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