10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Waste Burning Tracers in Residential Wood Combustion Area in Estonia
HANNA LII KUPRI, Marek Maasikmets, Riin Rebane, Erik Teinemaa, Viktoria Voronova, Estonian Environmental Research Centre
Abstract Number: 208 Working Group: Combustion
Abstract Estonia’s health impact assessment study has shown that due to the fine PM in an ambient air, people’s life expectancy has shortened up to 13 months, with the highest decrease in city centers or areas with extensive domestic heating (Orru, 2011). During domestic heating, often incomplete combustion occurs causing the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
One of the biggest fraction in Estonia's municipal solid waste (MSW) consists of different plastic materials. Major compound in the smoke from burning plastics include terephthalic acid (TA), used predominantly in beverage bottles and similar containers (polyethylene terephthalate - PETE), polystyrene (PS), polyporopylene (PP), etc. The specific key organic tracer for burning plastics found in atmospheric particle samples also include 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene, which occurs in regions where plastic waste is burned (Simoneit, 2005). This suggests that combustion of waste which is largely composite of plastic materials can be traced using the characteristic species detected in the smoke of plastics and refuse burnings (Kumar, 2015). Currently, there are only few available studies related to tracers for plastic waste burning in aerosols.
As Estonia has a well-organized MSW systems, it can be assumed, that people are not burning waste to dispose of it, but it could be considered more as an habitual behavior. According to the members of Estonia’s Chamber of Chimney Sweepers, in addition to the wood, paper and cardboard waste, people also tend to burn Tetra Pak®’s, sanitary napkins, diapers, various plastic packages, shoes, textile etc. According to the Estonian Environmental Inspectorate, it is difficult to assess the exact number of people who still practice burning household waste since such activities are done clandestinely. Burning waste can also be an important contributor to particle pollution, because wood and wood chips account more than 90% of the fuel used for Estonia’s residential heating. Therefore, it is an important topic to address.
Methods and results The analysis of aerosol chemical composition (using Aerodyne Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor) were carried out during the winter period of 2016 and the full year of 2017 in Tartu’s residential wood combustion (RWC) area and Lahemaa EMEP background monitoring station. PM10 and PM2.5 levels in ambient air were measured using beta ray attenuation (BAM 1020, MetOne) analyzers and for PM10 gravimetric measurements high-volume sampler (Digitel DHA-80) was used.
For analyzing terephthalic acid 24 h high-volume filters were extracted by sonication-assisted solvent extraction and then analyzed with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Chromatography was performed on a reversed phase column with methanol and 0.1% formic acid as chromatographic eluents. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was used for analyzing heavy metals and PAH’s. Heavy metals (Al, As, Sb, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Fe, Zn, Cu) were analyzed on ICP-MS (Agilent series 7500).
Contrary to widespread bias, MSW combustion is not only a problem in developing countries, but it is also taking place in Europe. In this research, we have found that the packaging waste combustion in household heaters and stoves might be quite an important issue in some RWC areas. The analysis has shown a good correlation of TA, PAH and benzo(a)pyrene which may have been released to the environment during incomplete co-combustion of wood and waste materials. Analysis of filters from both stations also showed increased amount of TA and benzo(a)pyrene during the heating period and during summer when people make bonfires.