TY - JOUR

T1 - Survey of PCDD/Fs and non-ortho PCBs in UK sewage sludges.

AU - Stevens, Joanna L.

AU - Green, Nicholas J. L.

AU - Jones, Kevin C.

PY - 2001/9

Y1 - 2001/9

N2 - A survey of PCDD/F and non-ortho PCB concentrations in the mesophilic, anaerobically digested sludge of 14 UK wastewater treatment works was carried out. The range of total Cl1–Cl8DD/F concentrations in the sludges was 8880–428 000 pg/g dw with a median of 23 300 pg/g dw. The concentrations of the three non-ortho PCBs were in the range 272–63 000 pg/g dw with a median of 695 pg/g dw. The PCDD/F I-TEQs of the sludges studied were comparable to those published in the literature with a range of 20–225 pg I-TEQ/g dw and a median of 40.4 pg/g dw. The non-ortho PCBs usually added 2–7 pg/g to the total TEQ with one notable exception which increased the TEQ value 20-fold. With three exceptions, the PCDD/F content of the sludges fell well below the draft EU limit values proposed on 27 April 2000. The homologue group pattern of the PCDD/Fs is dominated by the HpCDDs and OCDD and is consistent with that found in most sewage sludges. There appears to be no correlation between the degree of industrial input and the PCDD/F concentration. This suggests that trade effluent is not always the most significant source of PCDD/Fs to wastewater in the UK.

AB - A survey of PCDD/F and non-ortho PCB concentrations in the mesophilic, anaerobically digested sludge of 14 UK wastewater treatment works was carried out. The range of total Cl1–Cl8DD/F concentrations in the sludges was 8880–428 000 pg/g dw with a median of 23 300 pg/g dw. The concentrations of the three non-ortho PCBs were in the range 272–63 000 pg/g dw with a median of 695 pg/g dw. The PCDD/F I-TEQs of the sludges studied were comparable to those published in the literature with a range of 20–225 pg I-TEQ/g dw and a median of 40.4 pg/g dw. The non-ortho PCBs usually added 2–7 pg/g to the total TEQ with one notable exception which increased the TEQ value 20-fold. With three exceptions, the PCDD/F content of the sludges fell well below the draft EU limit values proposed on 27 April 2000. The homologue group pattern of the PCDD/Fs is dominated by the HpCDDs and OCDD and is consistent with that found in most sewage sludges. There appears to be no correlation between the degree of industrial input and the PCDD/F concentration. This suggests that trade effluent is not always the most significant source of PCDD/Fs to wastewater in the UK.

KW - PCDDs

KW - PCDFs

KW - PCBs

KW - Digested

KW - Anaerobic

KW - HRGC

KW - HRMS

U2 - 10.1016/S0045-6535(00)00474-4

DO - 10.1016/S0045-6535(00)00474-4

M3 - Journal article

VL - 44

SP - 1455

EP - 1462

JO - Chemosphere

JF - Chemosphere

SN - 0045-6535

IS - 6

ER -