Dispersion of Short- and Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) from a CP Production Plant to the Surrounding Surface Soils and Coniferous Leaves

Abstract

Chlorinated paraffin (CP) production is one important emission source for short- and medium-chain CPs (SCCPs and MCCPs) in the environment. In this study, 48 CP congener groups were measured in the surface soils and coniferous leaves collected from the inner and surrounding environment of a CP production plant that has been in operation for more than 30 years to investigate the dispersion and deposition behavior of SCCPs and MCCPs. The average concentrations of the sum of SCCPs and MCCPs in the in-plant coniferous leaves and surface soils were 4548.7 ng g dry weight (dw) and 3481.8 ng g dw, which were 2-fold and 10-fold higher than those in the surrounding environment, respectively. The Gaussian air pollution model explained the spatial distribution of CPs in the coniferous leaves, whereas the dispersion of CPs to the surrounding surface soils fits the Boltzmann equation well. Significant fractionation effect was observed for the atmospheric dispersion of CPs from the production plant. CP congener groups with higher octanol-air partitioning coefficients (K) were more predominant in the in-plant environment, whereas the ones with lower K values had the elevated proportion in the surrounding environment. A radius of approximately 4 km from the CP production plant was influenced by the atmospheric dispersion and deposition of CPs.

Status of short-chain chlorinated paraffins in matrices and research gap priorities in Africa: a review

“…SCCP concentrations ranging from 69 to 1600 ng g −1 and 145 to 28.000 ng g −1 were determined in Kingtom and Agbogbloshie e-waste waste sites, respectively. Compared to literature data, the lowest SCCP concentration determined in the Agbogbloshie and Kingtom samples was similar to slightly higher than concentrations determined in ambient soils in China, UK and Norway (Xu et al 2016;Halse et al 2015). However, the highest SCCP concentration in Kingtom samples was similar to concentrations reported in farmland soils irrigated with wastewater and soils close to CP production plant (Zeng et al 2011a), whereas the highest concentrations determined in Agbogbloshie samples were similar to those recently published in China (Xu et al 2019b).…”

“…∑SCCP concentrations were detected at ND-5090 ng g −1 dw which indicated that CP production caused soil contamination of SCCPs. Only two studies were comparable with the obtained results (Xu et al 2016;Wang et al 2018b). The obtained results were also much higher than those reported by Bogdal et al (2017), Wang et al (2014) and Zeng et al (2011a).…”

Medium- and Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins in Mature Maize Plants and Corresponding Agricultural Soils

“…The concentrations of MCCPs and SCCPs in maize leaves herein were comparable to those in coniferous leaves obtained around another factory (MCCPs, 337.8−3711.1 ng/g dw and SCCPs, 218.7−1742.2 ng/g dw) and the SCCP levels in pine needles (11.8 μg g −1 lw), and they were an order of magnitude lower than those in mustard (148 μg g −1 lw and 291 μg g −1 lw on mean) sampled from a mega E-Waste recycling industrial park. 23,29 MCCPs were significantly higher than SCCPs (Friedman test, p < 0.05) in maize leaves. Results showed that the geometric mean concentration of MCCPs in maize leaves was about 2 times higher than those of SCCPs, which agrees roughly with the ratios of MCCPs/SCCPs of CP-52 products in China (1.6−8.2).…”

“…since sites 5 and 26 were located close to a small residential village and an agricultural path, respectively. 29,34,37 In addition, the nonhomogeneous diffusion of CPs from a manufacturing facility might be also one of the reasons.…”

“…28 MCCPs and SCCPs in the ambient coniferous leaves around a production plant were 337.8− 3711.1 ng/g dry weight (dw) and 218.7−1742.2 ng/g dw. 29 Besides, MCCPs and SCCPs were highly accumulated at 4.36 μg/g wet weight (ww) and 3.54 μg/g ww in local lettuce from an e-waste recycling industrial park. 23 Maize is planted over the largest area of any crop in the world.…”