Air Passive Sampling for the Screening of Inhalation Risks of POPs Near an Incineration Plant

The use of passive air samplers (PAS) in recent years to monitor the occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in air has been increasing, not only globally, but also at regional and/or local scales. The present study was aimed at analyzing the airborne concentrations of the POPs: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in the vicinity of a municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) in Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). Mean air levels of PCBs, PBDEs, and PCNs were 44.1, 65.0, and 6.65 pg/m³, respectively. No differences were noted according to the distance or direction from the plant for any chemical. Furthermore, this information was used to estimate the air inhalation of POPs for the local population. Environmental exposure to POPs through air accounted for only <2% of the total when compared with the dietary intake. The overall results indicate that the MSWI here assessed does not mean a relevant increase on human health risks derived from inhalation of POPs. PAS can also be utilized for human health risk assessment studies, being also suitable tools to control the environmental burden of non-regulated chemicals, for which no emission thresholds have yet been derived.