Particulate PAHs observed in the surrounding of a municipal incinerator

An intensive sampling campaign was undertaken in the surroundings of a municipal waste incinerator located in a French great urban centre in order to evaluate the impact of particles emissions on the ambient air and to estimate the exposure levels to toxic or carcinogenic compounds for a population living in the neighbourhood of this incinerator. To minimise the effect of industrial and road activities, sampling was performed during the 2 days of a weekend and on Monday morning. Different operating modes of the incinerator were investigated: (i) normal incinerator functioning and (ii) maintenance activity of the combustion chamber corresponding to the stop and cooling furnace periods. Particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and total particulate carbon concentrations were determined in three sites situated, respectively, close to the incinerator, 2 km downwind and 1 km upwind of the plant. In normal operating mode similar concentrations were observed in the three sites. During the furnace stop an increase of total PAH concentrations was observed in the sampling site close to the incinerator. The concentration was 3 times higher than those measured in the other two sampling sites. But this increase was limited in time and in space since this phenomenon is only observed in the vicinity of the incinerator. The study of PAH profiles indicated that Pyrene and Retene showed the highest enhancement of their relative concentrations. The influence of incinerator functioning parameters on the PAHs concentrations is discussed. The furnace temperature and the mode of exhaust fumes seem to be deciding parameters to explain the increase of PAH level in the incinerator site. However, the incinerator emissions remained a minor part of the atmospheric pollution in the urban area.