Emission factors for PM<sub>10</sub> and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from illegal burning of different types of municipal waste in households

Abstract

Abstract. It is a common practice in developing countries and in some regions of Europe that solid wastes generated in households (e.g. plastic beverage packaging and other plastic wastes, textile wastes, fibreboards, furniture, tyres, and coloured-paper waste) are burned in wood- or coal-fired stoves during the winter months. In Europe, the types and volume of municipal waste burned in households is virtually unknown because these activities are illegal and not recorded, with the exception of a few media reports or court cases. Even though particulate emissions from illegal waste burning pose a significant hazard to human health due to the combination of excessive emission factors (EFs) and uncontrolled chemical composition, there is scarce information on the specific EFs for PM10 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the scientific literature. In this work, controlled combustion tests were performed with 12 different types of municipal solid waste, and particulate emissions were measured and collected for chemical analysis. Absolute EFs for PM10 and PAHs as well as the benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) toxicity equivalent of the latter are reported for the first time for the indoor combustion of 12 common types of municipal solid waste that are frequently burned in households worldwide. It was found that the PM10 emission factors from the combustion of wood-based waste samples were about twice that of firewood, whereas EFs in the range of 11–82 mg g−1 (a factor of 5–40 times higher than that of dry firewood under the same conditions) were obtained for different types of plastic waste. The latter were also found to emit exceptionally high quantities of PAHs, by a factor of 50–750 more than upon the combustion of dry firewood under the same conditions. Since the more toxic 4–6 ring PAHs were predominant in the particulate emission from plastic waste burning, BaP equivalent toxicity was up to 4100 times higher than that from wood combustion.

Potential new tracers and their mass fraction in the emitted PM<sub>10</sub> from the burning of household waste in stoves

“…Although burning of waste in households is strictly prohibited in all countries in Europe, there is ample evidence that many people regularly burn waste primarily for heating their homes. Since upon the burning of solid waste in stoves exceptionally high amounts of PM 10 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are emitted (Hoffer et al, 2020), the assessment of the contribution of illegal waste burning to ambient PM 10 concentration levels is vitally important. In this work, different types of plastics which are abundant in household waste were burned under controlled conditions in the laboratory with a view to identifying potentially specific tracer compounds and determining their emission factors.…”

“…The details for the laboratory waste burning experiment can be found in Hoffer et al (2020). Briefly, 12 different waste types -7 plastic types: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyurethane (PU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC); 2 types of treated wood: furniture panel made from low-density fibreboard (LDF) and oriented strand board (OSB); and other waste types such as tire, paper (PAP), and different rags (RAG) -as well as firewood was burned in a stove used for residential heating.…”

“…All the data reported here refer to the particular experimental set-up as described in detail in Hoffer et al (2020), i.e. "average" burning conditions in terms of air supply and combustion temperature, dilution ratio, etc.…”

“…The relative EF (µg g −1 PM) of the given compound was calculated from the amount of the compound (or that of its surrogate compound; see below) determined by GC-MS and from the mass of PM 10 measured gravimetrically. The absolute EF (mg kg −1 ) for a given compound was calculated by taking into account the dilution factor in the sampling line and the mass of the waste burned (Hoffer et al, 2020). In the results section, the relative EF of the different components are discussed, but the absolute EFs are also given in the Supplement (Table S2).…”

Comparison of Carbonaceous Compounds Emission from the Co-Combustion of Coal and Waste in Boilers Used in Residential Heating in Poland, Central Europe

“…The co-combustion of waste, such as plastic material in domestic boilers, is not only a problem in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe [45,49,50], and in South American countries, for example, Chile [51]. Therefore, it is important to know the composition of the emissions of the organic compounds, from the point of a view of the environment, human health, and information campaigns about the harmfulness of such combustion.…”