PCDD/Fs in Ambient Air in North-East Italy: The Role of a MSWI Inside an Industrial Area
The stack gases of a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI), and ambient air were sampled in four
locations around the plant for the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans
(PCDDs/Fs). The sampling area was close to an industrial area near Trieste, in north-east Italy.
The purpose of the study was to estimate the impact of the MSWI emissions and to distinguish the contribution
of these emissions from other potential emission sources in the industrial area.
PCDD/F atmospheric concentrations were similar to those generally detected in urban¿rural areas with
one location about 2¿3 times more contaminated than the others. Since the most contaminated location
was inside the industrial area but upwind of the MSWI, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to
establish whether other sources were the cause. This analysis clearly showed that a local steel plant¿s
emission was the main source of PCDDs/Fs in ambient air. This study highlights the usefulness of multivariate
data analysis such as PCA to identify, among different potential emission sources, the one really
responsible for the contamination.
COLOMBO Andrea;
BENFENATI Emilio;
MARIANI Giulio;
LODI Marco;
MARRAS Roberto;
ROTELLA Giuseppe;
SENESE Vincenzo;
FATTORE Elena;
FANELLI Roberto;
2009-12-10
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
JRC55439
0045-6535,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC55439,
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2009.09.009,
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