Formation of PCDDs and PCDFs during the combustion of polyvinylidene chloride and other polymers in the presence of HCl

PVDC and three non-chlorinated polymers (PP, PET, and PA) were incinerated at 700–850 °C in a laboratory-scale quartz tubular furnace in the presence of HCl (ca. 500 ppm congruent with 0.8 mg/l), and the gas-phase formation of PCDD/Fs, their putative precursors and their homologue profiles were investigated. The addition of HCl had little or no apparent effect on the level of PCDD/Fs formation during PVDC combustion, and their homologue profiles were quite different from those of the three non-chlorinated polymers. With PVDC, O8CDD and particularly O8CDF were by far most prevalent, apparently as a result of the selective formation of the precursors. With each of the three non-chlorinated polymers, combustion at 800 °C or higher in the presence of HCl resulted in PCDD/Fs formation at levels equaling or exceeding those observed with PVDC. In trials made with one of them (PP) under the same conditions but using a large polymer sample (100 mg vs 20 mg in all other trials), the level of PCDD/Fs formation was far higher than with the smaller polymer samples, and thus demonstrated the importance of appropriate combustion conditions for polymer incineration.