Spatial distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDDs/Fs) in dust, soil, sediment and health risk assessment from an intensive electronic waste recycling site in Southern China

Abstract

Workshop dust, soil and sediment samples were collected to investigate the level and spatial distribution of PCDDs/Fs at an intensive electronic waste (e-waste) recycling site in Southern China, and also to characterize the dioxin emission in different e-waste recycling procedures. The concentrations of total PCDDs/Fs ranged from 1866 to 234 292 ng kg⁻¹ for the dust samples, from 3187 to 63 998 ng kg⁻¹ dry wt for the top soils, and 33 718 ng kg⁻¹ for the surface sediment. All the samples were characterized by abnormally high concentrations of OCDD and an extremely low portion of PCDFs. Different e-waste recycling procedures may generate different congener profiles. Open burning and dismantling were the two procedures emitting relatively higher concentrations of PCDDs/Fs in this case, indicating that low-tech recycling operations were one of the major contributors of PCDDs/Fs to the environment. The variation and distinction of the concentrations and homologue/congener profiles among different environmental matrices reveal the characteristics of contaminant environmental behavior and fate during the transportation from “source” to “sink”. Daily intake of PCDDs/Fs through soil ingestion and dermal absorption was negligible, but the rough estimated total PCDD/F intake dose far exceeded the tolerance daily intake value of 4 pg-TEQ per kg per day recommended by WHO, indicating that residents in Longtang were at a high risk of exposure to dioxins, especially children.