Sampling and Decontamination Methods for Buildings Contaminated with Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins

Abstract

The advent of state real estate transfer laws such as New Jersey's Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (ECRA), as well as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) project evolution toward inclusion of buildings and equipment, has brought a new focus to technology for building and equipment decontamination. This paper reviews sampling and decontamination technology specifically for buildings and equipment contaminated with polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD). Several large-scale decontamination projects have been undertaken in which building structures, equipment, and machinery were decontaminated to remove PCDD and related compounds. The three basic types of building contamination are: • Fugitive deposits of contamination from adjacent sites, • Contamination from pyrolysis by-products generated during chemical fires, particularly PCB, and • Incidental contact with contaminants during related product manufacture or storage (pentachlorophenol use, PCB electrical equipment, 2,4,5-T pesticide manufacture, etc.).