Emission characterization of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants from iron ore sintering process in China

Emission of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (Unintentional POPs), including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) and pentachlorobenzene (PeCBz), were investigated in four typical iron ore sintering plants in China. The emission factors and annual mass releases of the Unintentional POPs were calculated. The results indicated that PCDFs contributed more than 60% to the overall toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) values, while the contribution of the dl-PCBs is relatively low, and only in the range of 8-9%. The dominant congeners of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs contributing most to the total TEQ were 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF and PCB-126. With regard to the TEQ contributions, the most abundant homologues were PeCDFs and HxCDD/Fs, followed by PeCDDs and non-ortho dl-PCB, whereas HpCDD/Fs, OCDD/Fs and mono-ortho dl-PCBs almost made no contributions. Due to the massive use of recycled waste in the feeding materials, the average emission factor of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs of the four plants was 3.95 μg WHO-TEQ ton⁻¹. Based on the results, the annual release of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in 2007-2009 were estimated to be 2070 g, 2212 g, and 2307 g WHO-TEQ, respectively.     

Levels of persistent organic pollutant and their predictors among young adults

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (p,p′-DDE), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) continues to be of concern due to their ubiquitous distribution and high persistence. Current toxicant body burden is still a primary concern within the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation since other studies conducted within the community have shown relationships between these POPs and endocrine disruption.In this article we describe the levels of these toxicants in young adults of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation between the ages of 17 and 21 years of age (mean age 18.1 years), and investigate potential influences of their current body burden. Seventeen congeners in fourteen chromatographic peaks were detected in 50% or more of the individuals sampled (geometric mean [GM] of the sum of these congeners = 0.43 ppb). Congeners 118, 138[+163 + 164] and 153 had the highest rate of detection (?98%) within the Akwesasne young adults. Of the other organochlorines, HCB (GM = 0.04 ppb) and p,p′-DDE (GM = 0.38 ppb) were found in 100% and 99% of the sample respectively.Significantly higher levels of PCBs were found among individuals who were breastfed as infants, were first born, or had consumed local fish within the past year. When compared to levels of p,p′-DDE, HCB, and 13 specific congeners reported by the CDC for youth between the ages of 12 and 19 years, the geometric means of several congeners (CBs 99, 105, 110, and 118) among the Akwesasne were higher than the reported CDC 90th percentile. In contrast, levels of CB 28 in Akwesasne young adults were ∼50% or less than those of the CDC cohort. p,p′-DDE and HCB levels were generally higher in the CDC cohort (GM of 0.516 and 0.065 ppb, respectively for Mohawks vs. 2.51 and 0.123, respectively, for CDC). Concentrations of non-persistent PCBs among this sample of Akwesasne young adults were higher than those reported by the CDC suggesting continued exposure, but lower than those associated with severe contamination.Additional research into the concentration trends of individual PCB congeners within Akwesasne youth and young adults is warranted to further improve our insight into the determinants and influences of organochlorine concentrations within members of the Akwesasne community.     

PAFC对水体中持久性有机污染物PFOA的混凝效果

针对含全氟辛酸(PFOA)的工业废水及应对PFOA的污染突发事件,采用PAFC及其复配粘土矿物凹凸棒和沸石进行混凝实验,并对几个影响因素进行了考察。结果表明,在PAFC的最佳投加量10 mg/L时,PFOA和浊度的去除率分别达到70.25%和99.42%,PAFC混凝处理PFOA的效果优于PAC;pH值对PAFC去除PFOA有一定的影响,当pH大于6时有利于PFOA的去除;PFOA和浊度的去除率随原始浊度的增加而增加;活性炭、盐酸改性凹凸棒、盐酸改性沸石、CT-MAB改性的沸石复配PAFC均可提高PFOA的去除率;改性处理后的沸石应用于PFOA的处理中,有望降低处理成本。     

The evolution of mass balance models of persistent organic pollutant fate in the environment

Current approaches to modelling the fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment have evolved in response to four dominant characteristics of these substances; namely: (1) the presence of POPs in virtually all environmental phases and the ease with which they move from one to the other requires multi-compartmental modelling. Describing transport across phase boundaries becomes as, or even more, important as quantifying transport within the phases; (2) POPs may persist in the environment for many decades. For chemicals that 'have time', concepts such as equilibrium partitioning and steady-state become more important than for short-lived substances whose fate is more controlled by the rates of transformation; (3) measuring POPs is difficult and expensive and observed concentrations of POPs are not available in high spatial or temporal resolution. Consequently, high resolution tends not to be a high priority in POP models; and (4) detrimental effects of POPs often manifest themselves in top predators, which has led to a focus on modelling biotic uptake and transfer within food chains. The task of building a POPs model is viewed as combining the four 'building blocks' of partitioning, transport, transformation and source data with the help of the law of the conservation of mass. Process models, evaluative models, models of real local, regional and global fate, as well as biological uptake models are presented and references to numerous examples are provided. An attempt is made to forecast future directions in the field of POPs modelling. It is expected that modelling techniques that do not rely on quantitative emission estimates as well as approaches that take into account spatial, temporal and climatic variability as well as parameter uncertainty will increase in importance. Finally, the relationship between modelling POPs and models of other pollutant issues is addressed, as are potential interactions between POPs and pollutant issues such as eutrophication, acidification and global climate change.     

Seasonal change of persistent organic pollutant concentrations in air at Niigata area,Japan

The concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as HCB, alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-HCH, trans- and cis-chlordane (t-CHL, c-CHL), DDE, DDD and DDT, in ambient air have been measured at five sampling points in Niigata area, Japan (Niigata, Maki, Tsubame, Jouzo and Yahiko) during the period from September 1999 to November 2001. HCB, alpha-HCH, t-CHL and c-CHL showed higher concentrations than the other chemicals in all locations. All the POPs except t-CHL and c-CHL collected at urban sites of the Niigata Plain was almost the same in their concentration levels. Higher concentrations of t-CHL and c-CHL in residential areas should be attributed to the past usage of the chemical as a termiticide. At Yahiko (remote site), most of the POPs showed lower concentrations than those measured at the other sampling sites, although alpha-HCH and gamma-HCH were comparable with the concentrations found at the other sampling sites. All POPs except alpha-HCH and gamma-HCH tend to decrease 41-80% in their concentrations from 2000 to 2001. The lower POPs concentrations in winter and the higher POPs concentrations in summer at every sampling point can be partly explained by temperature differences. Applying the equation of the logarithm of the POP partial pressure in air versus reciprocal temperature (lnPa=m/T+b) to our data, linear relations were observed. HCB gave a poor linearity and the smallest slope, while beta-HCH, t-CHL and c-CHL gave good linearities and large slopes in the equation. The results suggest that HCB level is influenced by not only the emission from terrestrial sources but the global-scale background pollution. A peculiar observation is that beta-HCH concentration measured in our study showed large temperature dependence, indicating there could be a source of contamination in the surrounding areas.     

关于硝酸工业污染物排放标准的研究

中国近10年来硝酸工业快速发展,但该行业的污染治理和环境管理情况却没有得到同步发展和应有的重视,对环境已造成了严重污染.现行综合排放标准已无法对硝酸工业污染起到控制作用.分析了硝酸工业污染排放情况和国内外相关的排放标准,针对中国实际情况提出了该行业污染物排放标准制定思路,严格控制硝酸工业NOx 和总氮排放,并建议利用国际清洁发展机制对温室气体N2O实施减排控制.     

中国主要排放源的非故意产生六氯苯和多氯联苯大气排放清单探讨

六氯苯和多氯联苯是被列入<斯德哥尔摩公约>附件C中要求采取减排控制措施的非故意产生持久性有机污染物,目前尚没有关于它们在中国的排放清单方面的研究报道.参考日本环境省基于实测数据编制的排放因子,计算了以2008为基准年的中国主要排放源的非故意产生六氯苯和多氯联苯大气排放清单.结果表明,由主要行业产生的六氯苯年排放量为528 704 g,多氯联苯的年排放量为7 762 615 g.对于六氯苯,主要排放源依次为水泥行业(42.356%)、电炉炼钢(27.549%)、钢铁烧结过程(14.731%)和初级铜冶炼(7.774%);对于多氯联苯,水泥行业占了排放量的90%以上.上述排放源应当在制订其减排战略和行动计划时予以关注和优先考虑.     

The impact of an urban-industrial region on the magnitude and variability of persistent organic pollutant deposition to Lake Michigan

A predictive model for gas-phase PCBs and trans-nonachlor over Lake Michigan has been constructed and the resulting data examined for trends. In this paper, we describe the model results to show how the magnitude and variability of a plume of contaminants from the Chicago area contributes to a highly variable region of net contaminant deposition over the entire lake. For the whole lake, gross annual deposition of PCBs is approximately 3200 kg, although the net annual gas exchange is not significantly different from zero. The data-driven model illustrates that on a daily basis, the net exchange of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can change from net deposition to net volatilization depending on the area of plume impact. These findings suggest that i) control of urban areas can accelerate the rate of volatilization from lakes; and ii) release of POPs from urban areas is largely a result of volatilization processes.     

Estimation of dioxin emission from fires in chemicals

The formation of the 17 toxic 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs and PCDFs during combustion of selected chemicals were measured by high-resolution GC/MS. The 16 chemicals studied were commonly used chlorinated pesticides, industrial chemicals, and PVC. In a series of experiments carried out in a DIN 53,436 furnace, 2.5 g of these compounds were burned at 500 degrees C and 900 degrees C, respectively. The resultant yields ranged from 740 ng ITEQ/g for pentachlorophenol, to below 0.01 ng ITEQ/g for PVC and dichlobenil. The results show that some chemicals generate PCDD/F in very high--possibly dangerous--amounts during burning, whereas others generate insignificant amounts. The influence of scale were studied for chlorobenzene and 4-chloro-3-nitro-benzoic acid in additional experiments, carried out in a cone calorimeter burning 20 g substance, and in ISO 9705 room test burning about 50 kg. A good agreement between the results for large and small scale indicated that formation of PCCD/F during a fire may be estimated from laboratory experiments. This suggest laboratory test may be used to screen for chemicals posing a hazard for release of PCDD/F during fires.     

Computation of uncertainty for atmospheric emission projections from key pollutant sources in Spain

Emission projections are important for environmental policy, both to evaluate the effectiveness of abatement strategies and to determine legislation compliance in the future. Moreover, including uncertainty is an essential added value for decision makers. In this work, projection values and their associated uncertainty are computed for pollutant emissions corresponding to the most significant activities from the national atmospheric emission inventory in Spain. Till now, projections had been calculated under three main scenarios: “without measures” (WoM), “with measures” (WM) and “with additional measures” (WAM). For the first one, regression techniques had been applied, which are inadequate for time-dependent data. For the other scenarios, values had been computed taking into account expected activity growth, as well as policies and measures. However, only point forecasts had been computed. In this work statistical methodology has been applied for: a) Inclusion of projection intervals for future time points, where the width of the intervals is a measure of uncertainty. b) For the WoM scenario, ARIMA models are applied to model the dynamics of the processes. c) In the WM scenario, bootstrap is applied as an additional non-parametric tool, which does not rely on distributional assumptions and is thus more general. The advantages of using ARIMA models for the WoM scenario including uncertainty are shown. Moreover, presenting the WM scenario allows observing if projected emission values fall within the intervals, thus showing if the measures to be taken to reach the scenario imply a significant improvement. Results also show how bootstrap techniques incorporate stochastic modelling to produce forecast intervals for the WM scenario.     

民用型煤燃烧的排放特征及推广型煤的减排效果

为探究煤质对型煤燃烧排放特征的影响,选取了呼和浩特市某城区推广使用的6种方型型煤进行了污染物排放水平测试,并结合煤质数据分析了影响型煤燃烧排放特征的主要因素。结果表明,挥发分含量是影响型煤燃烧产生的PM_2.5和NO_x排放浓度的主要因素;VOCs的排放浓度与挥发分和固定碳的总含量相关;计算得到型煤燃烧后的主要污染物(CO、SO₂、NO_x、TSP、PM_2.5、VOCs)的排放因子,分别为(36.0±17.3)、(1.89±0.47)、(1.18±0.62)、(0.47±0.69)、(0.19±0.15)和(0.27±0.18)g·kg⁻¹;设置排放情景,计算得到在该区域推广型煤后主要污染物的减排率分别为61.9%、22.2%、20.6%、89.3%、91.6%和89.1%。在推广民用型煤的过程中,还应加强对煤质的管理,同时推广型煤的配套炉具,减少人为操作造成的污染物排放。     

吹扫-捕集法在挥发性有机污染物分析中的应用

吹扫 -捕集法为 2 0世纪 70年代中期推出的痕量挥发性有机化合物的富集方法 ,它具有简便、灵敏度高、富集率高、快速、精密、准确、不使用有机溶剂等特点。 2 0多年以来 ,吹扫 -捕集器和GC、GC/MS等仪器联用测定环境中痕量挥发性有机污染物 ,已获得令人满意的结果 ,因而吹扫 -捕集法将在有机污染分析中得到日益广泛的应用     

Characterization of gaseous pollutant and particulate matter emission rates from a commercial broiler operation part II: Correlated emission rates

Emission rates of ammonia, acid gases, inorganic aerosols, methane, and size fractionated particulate matter were measured from a commercial broiler facility. This paper discusses the statistically influential parameters on numerous pollutants’ emission from a broiler chicken facility and generates emission correlations to fill data gaps and develop averaged emission factors.Live mass of the birds was commonly a significant variable to each pollutant’s emission. Some variables significantly impacted the pollutants’ emissions, such as litter moisture content, but were measured discretely and cannot be used for filling in data gaps.House parameter correlations were, therefore, developed using parameters measured at the facility, such as indoor temperature, relative humidity, and the live mass of the birds, and relied on the mutual behaviour of discretely measured explanatory parameters and continuously monitored confounding variables. The live mass and the difference in the indoor temperature and the house set-point temperature were the most significant variables in each pollutant’s correlation.The correlations predicted each pollutants emission to within 20% (total mass basis) over most broiler production cycles. Their validation on independent datasets also successfully estimated the flocks’ emissions to within 3%.Emission factors (EFs) were developed for methane, ammonia, and size fractionated particulate matter using measured data and correlated emissions to fill in data gaps. PM₁₀ (particulate matter ≤10 microns) EFs were estimated to be 4.6 and 5.9 g d^?1 [Animal Unit, AU]^?1 for five and six week production cycles, respectively. PM_2.5 (PM ≤ 2.5 microns) EFs were 0.8 and 1.4 g d^?1 AU^?1 for five and six week cycles, respectively. Ammonia and methane emission factors were estimated at 120.8 and 197.0 g d^?1 AU^?1, respectively for a five week production cycle.     

A study on dynamic volatile organic compound emission characterization of water-based paints

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from surface coatings have caused growing public concern for air quality. Even the low-emitted VOC impact from water-based paints on indoor air quality in urban areas has caused concern. This paper presents experimental data using a mathematical model to simulate dynamic VOC emissions from water-based paints that is based on mass transfer and molecular diffusion theories. A series of field-analogous experiments were carried out to continuously measure the VOCs emitted from two typical water-based paints using a gas chromatography-flame-ionization detector monitor in an artificial wind tunnel system. In the study cases, the mass flux of VOCs emitted from the water-based paints was up to 50 microg/m2sec. It was found that the time needed to completely emit VOCs from water-based paints is just hundreds of seconds. However, the order of magnitude of the VOC emission rate from water-based paints is not lower than that from some dry building materials and solvent-based paints. The experimental data were used to produce a useful semiempirical correlation to estimate the VOC emission rates for water-based paints. This correlation is valid under appropriate conditions as suggested by this work with a statistical deviation of +/- 7.6%. With this correlation, it seems feasible to predict the dynamic emission rates for VOCs during a painting process. This correlation is applicable for assessing the hazardous air pollutant impact on indoor air quality or for environmental risk assessment. Associated with the dynamic VOC emission characterization, the air-exchange rate effect on the VOC emission rates is also discussed.     

BAT and BEP as instruments for reducing emissions of unintentionally produced POPs and development of guidelines under the stockholm convention

The 6th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC 6), under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, gave an expert group the mandate to develop guidelines for the application and implementation of best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) for the prevention and reduction of unintentionally produced and emitted POPs, including polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/-furans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). Measures to reduce or eliminate the release of these POPs to the environment can be found in Article 5 of the Convention. BAT and BEP are already being applied as emission reduction instruments in a number of industrialised countries and are elements of other major international treaties, e.g. the UN ECE Protocol on POPs and the Marine Convention's OSPAR and HELCOM, and of the EU Directive for Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC Directive). Existing concepts are presented and compared with the requirements of the Stockholm Convention. Consequences, perspectives and questions for the future intersessional work of the above-mentioned Expert Group are discussed.     

Elimination of persistent organic pollutants from fish oil with solid adsorbents

Fish oils are one of the main sources of ω-3 fatty acids in animal and human diet. However, they can contain high concentrations of persistent organic pollutants due to their lipophilic properties. The aim of this study is the reduction of persistent organic pollutants in fish oil using silicon-based and carbon-based solid adsorbents. A wide screening study with different commercially available adsorbents was carried out, in order to determine their capacity of pollutant removal from fish oil. Moreover, adsorption conditions were evaluated and optimized with using an experimental design and adjustment of the experimental results to response surfaces, obtaining removals rates of more than 99% of PCDD/Fs, 81% of dioxin-like PCBs, 70% of HCB, 41% of DDTs, 16% of marker PCBs and 10% of PBDEs. Finally, fish oil fatty acids were analyzed before and after the treatment with solid adsorbents, confirming that it did not affect its nutritive properties.     

浅述天津主要污染物总量控制的实践经验与未来思路

浅述天津十一五、十二五期间主要污染物总量控制的工作历程,总结实践经验并对现有问题进行反思,梳理未来几年减排工作方法和管理策略。在此基础,提出采用提升排放标准和差别化征收排污费等手段确保总量控制制度的有效实施。