Temporal trends of PCBs, PCDD/Fs and PBDEs in soils from an E-waste dismantling area in East China

Abstract

The temporal trends of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated in soils from an E-waste dismantling area in East China between 2005 and 2011. Isotope dilution high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) was employed for the sample analysis. PCB levels declined as expected, while PCDD/Fs generally remained at a constant level during the sampling period, and PBDE concentrations tended to be slightly lower after 2007 although the decline was not statistically significant. The congener profiles indicated that lowly-halogenated congeners of these persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accounted for the decreasing levels and relative proportions of the POPs, suggesting that they have been gradually eliminated from the field soil over the years. However, the concentration levels of some heavy congeners (e.g., OCDD and OCDF) showed different trends from those of the lighter ones. The general tendencies of the three types of POPs in soils were consistent with those reported in other studies in this area. The results implied that the enhanced regulations and centralized dismantling action introduced in 2005 might exert a limited influence on these three types of POPs in soils during the sampling period. Environmental impactThe environmental contamination associated with E-waste dismantling activities has been a topic of great concern during the past several decades. In China, two notorious E-waste recycling centers are hot spots for POPs research, which are respectively located in Guiyu, South China and Taizhou, East China. The present study was conducted to investigate the levels and distribution of PCBs, PCDD/Fs and PBDEs in soils from the Taizhou area to reect the temporal tendency of POPs aer stricter environmental regulations were introduced by local government in 2005. The results revealed that different temporal trends occurred for the different POPs, which were closely related to their historical emission and their chemical properties. The study will shed light on the contamination control for these POPs in E-waste dismantling areas.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Residential Soils and Their Health Risk and Hazard in An Industrial City in India

“… 33 Thus, low chlorinated congeners undergo greater long-range atmospheric transport to areas outside their source site than the higher chlorinated congeners. The observed homolog pattern in this study may have originated from the short range atmospheric transport from industrial sites, 17 and medium-range regional atmospheric deposition. 9 Soils from the areas those having more activities such as open fires, cooking and heating in residential areas, may have higher concentrations of PCBs, especially during the winter season.…”

Polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments and fish species from the Murchison Bay of Lake Victoria, Uganda

“…Sample extraction and cleanup procedures followed the method reported by Wang et al (2013). Briefly, 2 g of the freeze-dried sample (fish or sediment) was ground with 10 g of anhydrous sodium sulfate to a free floating powder using a mortar and pestle.…”

Levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and biphenyls (PCBs) in blood of informal e-waste recycling workers from Agbogbloshie, Ghana, and controls

“…BFR containing or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coated copper cables, provide optimal conditions for de novo formation of halogenated aromatic compounds, such as PCDD/Fs, its brominated equivalents PBDD/Fs, mixed brominated/chlorinated homologies (PXDD/Fs) and other dioxin-related compounds (DRCs) (Weber and Kuch, 2003;Hedman et al, 2005;Gullett et al, 2007;Duan et al, 2011;Hibbert and Ogunseitan, 2014). Due to uncontrolled combustion and thermal processing of e-waste, these POPs have been found in the air, bottom ash, dust, soil, water and sediment samples from EWRSs worldwide, partly in tremendous high concentrations (Li et al, 2007;Wong et al, 2007;Brigden et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2008;Ma et al, 2009aMa et al, , 2009bWen et al, 2009Wen et al, , 2011Ni et al, 2010;Tue et al, 2010b;Zhang et al, 2012b;Chan and Wong, 2013;Hu et al, 2013;Labunska et al, 2013;Ren et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2013;Hosoda et al, 2014;Xiao et al, 2014). The share of annual mass of e-waste derived PCDD/F in China alone is estimated to be in the range of several kilograms (Ni et al, 2010).…”