Baseline levels of PCDD/Fs in vegetation samples collected in the vicinity of a new hazardous waste incinerator in Catalonia, Spain

Concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) were analysed by GC/MS in 40 vegetation samples collected in the neighbourhood of a hazardour waste incinerator (HWI) now under construction (Catalonia, Spain). Samples were collected at various sites within a radius of 7 km from the facility. Ten samples belonged to an urban area and 30 samples to a rural area. PCDD/F concentrations ranged between 0.24−1.22 ng I-TEQ/kg (dry matter), with a median and mean values of 0.53 and 0.61 ng I-TEQ/kg (dry matter), respectively. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) provided a two-dimensional model which would explain 67.0% of the variance in the data. The present results will be useful to determine the environmental impact of the HWI in future assessments of the plant.