Emissions of PCDD/Fs from Uncontrolled, Domestic Waste Burning

Backyard barrel burning of waste has the potential to be a major source of atmospheric PCDDs and PCDFs in the US. To better understand the pollution risk, combustion studies were conducted at EPA's Open Burning Test Facility to assess the impact of limited variation in waste composition on combustion conditions and PCDD/F emissions from a simulated domestic, backyard barrel burn. The synthesized domestic waste consisted primarily of actual unshredded house waste. Four different levels of PVC were used, and inorganic chlorine levels were derived by soaking newsprint in a calcium chloride-based deicer followed by drying. Results showed that toxic equivalent values ranged over three orders of magnitude, from less than 10 to over 6000 ng/kg. The effects of PVC and Cl type could be represented by a single parameter of total Cl concentration. Variation in combustion conditions appeared to be only weakly related to composition changes.