Ambient air monitoring of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs in Gyeonggi-do, Korea Original Research Article

We started the monitoring for PCDD/Fs in ambient air and soil in August 2001, and co-PCBs in January 2002. Decreasing of PCDD/Fs and co-PCBs levels in ambient air were observed. The higher PCDD/Fs levels were found in winter and lower in autumn. We found that the industrial incinerators influenced the PCDD/Fs levels in ambient air. In the 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/Fs concentration profiles, the three major congeners occupied 67% of the total mass. In case of co-PCBs, PCB#118, #105 and #77 were observed as the main congeners. Five cluster groups discriminated by ratio of four components, O8CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H7CDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-H7CDF and O8CDF, were obtained from HCA (hierarchical cluster analysis).