Abstract
Stack gas samples from 14 domestic-made hospital waste incinerators (HWIs) in China were collected and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The waste burning capacities of the investigated HWIs ranged from 5 to 25 ton d-1. The stack gas emissions of PCDD/Fs from HWIs exhibited a large variation (0.08-31.60 ng I-TEQ N m-3). Nine incinerators had the emission levels below the current emission standard in China (0.5 ng I-TEQ N m-3), while only two facilities exhibited emission levels below the European Union directive emission limit (0.1 ng I-TEQ N m-3). For two plants, concentrations of PCDD/Fs in stack gas were above 10.0 ng I-TEQ N m-3. The emission factors of PCDD/Fs from the investigated HWIs were in the range of 0.78-473.97 μg I-TEQ ton-1 medical wastes. It was estimated that 4.87 g I-TEQ of PCDD/Fs was annually released from HWIs to the atmosphere in China in 2006. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to analyze the congener profiles of PCDD/Fs from HWIs in China.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 634-639 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Chemosphere |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Emission factors
- Hospital waste incinerators
- PCDD/Fs
- Stack gas
