Purpose: Solid waste incineration has recently attracted much attention because the combustion process involved produces highly toxic organohalogen contaminants such as dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) present in fly ash. This has raised the need for simple, rapid, accurate methods for monitoring PCBs in ash samples.
Methods: A method for the simultaneous quantitative determination of indicator, non-ortho and mono-ortho PCBs based on ultrasound-assisted extraction with 50:50 (v/v) n-hexane/acetone was developed, validated, and subsequently applied to real samples from a mussel shell incinerator facility in Galicia. The overall method quantification limits range from 0.35 to 1.5 ng/g in fly ash waste, from 0.30 to 1.0 ng/g in bottom ashes, and from 1.0 to 2.0 ng/g in sludge samples. Mean recoveries between 70% and 105% are achieved.
Results: DL-PCBs were identified in ash and in sludge samples collected from the wastewater treatment plant of the waste incineration facility. The enrichment factors for fly ash ranged from 3.3 to 3.7. Sewage sludge was also found to contain some polychlorinated biphenyls such as PCB 77 (29 ± 5.0 ng/g; n=4) and PCB 169 (6.9 ± 0.89 ng/g; n=4), as well as three of the seven PCB-like indicators, namely: PCB 138 (14 ± 4.4 ng/g), PCB 153 (6.1 ± 1.4 ng/g), and PCB 180 (7.7 ± 3.0 ng/g). Toxicity equivalent concentrations were 0.0054 ng/g for bottom ash, 0.0264 ng/g for fly ash, and 3.6 ng/g for sewage sludge; these values are well below the limit for DL-PCBs in wastes recently set by the European Union.
Conclusions: All samples studied contained PCBs at levels below the maximum tolerated limit established by European legislation. Based on their PCB content, the studied sewage sludge can be used as a soil amendment with no health risk. Also, fly ash and sewage sludge can be deemed stable PCB reservoirs releasing PCBs at concentrations below the regulatory cutoff to runoff water.
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