Polychlorinated biphenyl emissions to the atmosphere in the Great Lakes region. Municipal landfills and incinerators

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985 · Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es00140a009· OSTI ID:5623053

Murphy, T J; Formanski, L J; Brownawell, B; Meyer, J A

In an effort to identify sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to the atmosphere, the concentration of PCBs in emissions from several municipal sanitary landfills and refuse and sewage sludge incinerators in the Midwest was determined. Sanitary landfills continuously emit the gaseous products of anaerobic fermentation along with other volatile materials to the atmosphere. Thus, they can be continuing sources of vapor-phase contaminants to the atmosphere. A projection, based on the amount of methane generated annually from landfills and a PCB to methane ratio of 0.3 ..mu..g of PCBs/m/sup 3/ of CH/sub 4/ found from the landfills sampled, indicates that the annual PCB emissions from sanitary landfills in the US is on the order of 10-100 kg/year. The concentrations of PCBs from the incinerator stacks sampled ranged from 0.3 to 3 ..mu..g/m/sub 3/, and the annual emissions per stack sampled were 0.25 kg/year. The emission rates found here are small compared to the 900,000 kg/year of PCBs estimated to cycle through the atmosphere over the US annually.

• Research Organization: DePaul Univ., Chicago, IL
• OSTI ID: 5623053
• Journal Information: Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Sci. Technol.; (United States) Vol. 19:10; ISSN ESTHA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
AROMATICS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEDERAL REGION V
GASEOUS WASTES
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
INCINERATORS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION SOURCES
SANITARY LANDFILLS
URBAN AREAS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES