Impact of a tire fire accident on soil pollution and the use of clay minerals as natural geo-indicators

Abstract

Following the occurrence of a fire at a tire landfill in the surrounding area of Madrid City (Spain), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and trace elements present in soils were analysed to assess the impact of the fire. The capacity of the soils' clay mineral fraction to reflect this air pollution incident was studied. Fourteen soil samples were collected at different distances under the smoke plume, and they were subjected to High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Photodiode Array Detection (HPLC-PAD), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. Clay minerals content showed a strong correlation with the pollutants potentially released in the tire fire, acenaphthene, pyrene, benzo(a)pyrene, and benzo(a)fluoranthene. Trace metals Zn and Se were related to the proximity of the tire fire without any relationship to clay minerals content. This work suggests the use of natural clay minerals as potential PAHs geo-indicators in response of air pollution, complementary to current air and biological analyses.

Performance Investigation and Cost–Benefit Analysis of Recycled Tire Polymer Fiber-Reinforced Cemented Paste Backfill

“…For instance, several fire accidents at the stockpiled scrap tires happened during the past 30 years [4][5][6]. The hazardous air contaminants such as benzene, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls generated from the burning tires could result in the severe pollution of air, water and soil [7]. Since the reuse of solid wastes and recycled materials could reduce raw material and energy consumption [8], a general strategy of recycling raw material applications must be developed for preserving raw materials with reduced environmental impact.…”