Formation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated organic compounds in municipal waste landfill fires

Polyaromatic hydrocarbon and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations were determined in the working air at two municipal landfill fires. At the fast waste site the fire was ignited intentionally, and at the other site the waste material caught fire spontaneously. Burnt waste samples, collected during the fires were analyzed for polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorophenols and polychlorinated benzenes. PAH and PCB concentrations in the working air were below the threshold limit values at both sites, and PAH, PCB, CP and CBz concentrations in the burnt waste samples were low. The same PAH isomers (phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene) were dominant both in the air and in the waste samples at both sites. The waste material evidently affects chlorocompound. emissions, as PCB concentrations in the air and in the burnt waste samples were several orders of magnitude higher at the site of the spontaneous fire than at the experimental site.