PCDD/Fs and PAHs compositions and source reconciliations in the basin area of central Taiwan

To better understand the environmental effects of ambient polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), this study uses a source-receptor approach to characterize the environmental effects of 17 PCDD/Fs (1 tetra-, 1 penta-, 3 hexa-, 1 hepta-, 1 octa-chlorodibenzodioxins and 1 tetra-, 2 penta-, 4 hexa-, 2 hepta-, 1 octa-chlorodibenzofurans) and 16 PAHs (NAP, ACY, ACE, FLO, PHE, ANT, FLA, PYR, CHR, BaA, BbF, BkF, DahA, BaP, IcdP, and BghiP) from various stationary and fugitive sources in the basin of central Taiwan. Six simultaneous field measurements of PCDD/Fs, PAHs, and meteorological readings at four selected sampling sites were performed during both northeast and southwest monsoon seasons. The source profiles of PCDD/Fs and PAHs were established from several sources. The concentration ranges of total PCDD/Fs and PAHs were 346–2342 fg m−3 and 7287–33,888 pg m−3, respectively. The average concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PAHs during the northeast monsoon season were almost 1.6 and 2.3 times higher than those during the southwest monsoon season. The results of the source-receptor model show that the sum of the average contributions of PCDD/Fs from municipal waste incinerators (MUW), secondary copper smelting (SCS), and cremation (CRE) was 66.3% and 65.9% and that of PAHs from electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and burning joss paper/incense (BJP) was 60.2% and 61.2% during the southwest and northeast monsoons, respectively. For reducing ambient PCDD/Fs and PAHs, PCDD/Fs emission from MUW, SCS, and CRE, and PAHs emissions from EAFs and BJP must be managed and controlled.