Parameters Influencing Emissions of PCDDs/Fs from Open Burning of HouseholdWaste in Barrels

摘要

The uncontrolled burning of household waste in barrels has recently been implicated asrnpossibly a major source of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinatedrndibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs). Previous measurements of PCDDs/Fs from controlledrnstudies of burn barrels (holding bulk density constant) resulted in a very high degree ofrnvariability, even between nominally identical test conditions. It is hypothesized thatrnslight differences in waste composition, distribution of various waste components in thernbarrel, and bulk waste density could significantly influence emissions of PCDDs/Fs fromrnthis combustion source. This paper will report on the results from tests that werernspecifically designed to examine some of the factors influencing the emissions ofrnPCDDs/Fs from burn barrels. Based on the wide variability within duplicate run sets inrnspite of all efforts to replicate run conditions, and the large number of interactingrnvariables that can account for variability in emissions, it is suggested that a probabilitybasedrnscheme using Monte Carlo simulations may be useful for developing emissionsrninventory estimates for this source.