PCDD/F, PCB and HCB in Soil and Ash from Brick Production Sites in Kenya, South Africa and Mexico

The implementation of the Stockholm Convention implies the generation of national emission inventories for Dioxins and Furans. So far little is known about the emissions from processes typically applied in Developing countries. Among the processes with a high activity and a high pollution potential (since wastes are often co-incinerated) is brick making. In the follow up of emission measurements at brick kilns in Mexico (MX) soil and bottom ashes were collected around these sites and compared to samples from brick making sites in South Africa (SA) and Kenya (KY) . Through the comparison of the impact on the nearby environment we tried to verify, whether the Emission Factors obtained from the measurements in Mexico can be applied to other regions where no measurements are available and where no adequate infrastructure exists to conduct. The levels in soil and ash were low in SA and KY (wood and coal fired kilns) and at a comparable level to the MX sites where virgin wood or LPG was used. The soils around waste derived fuel fired kilns in MX were somewhat higher, but still at levels that can e found in rural environments of the Northern Hemisphere. Apart from the overall confirmation of the applicability of the emission factors obtained from the study in MX, the very low level in the background soils investigated confirms the global North/South gradient of POPs pollution.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

PCDD/Fs, PCB and HCB Emissions from Rural Wood Stoves: A Preliminary Evaluation in Mexico

The Stockholm Convention (SC) on POPs obliges its parties to compile national emission inventories for unintentionally reseased POPs. In order to fill existing gaps what regards emission factors (EFs) for development country (DC) specific processes, an experiment on different kind of woodstoves was executed in a co-operattion berween the secretariate of the SC, UNEP, the National institute for Ecology in Mexico and the JRC. The experiment aimed at evaluating POPs emissions from different types of stoves that are being introduced in DCs in order to replace cooking on open fire, thereby reducing the impact on indoor air quality. The EFs were in a range of 120 ug PCDD/F/PCB TEQ per TJ and confirmed the range of 100 ug PCDD/F/PCB TEQ per TJ virgin wood as assumed in the existing toolkit for more sofisticated stoves as applied in developed countries.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Cooking on wood open fire in developing countries: Emission Factors and indoor air pollution with PCDD/F and Dioxin like PCBs

Indoor air pollution caused by cooking on open fires is a problem of public health with effects in children under 5 years old and women in the reproductive age. In developing countries it has been calculated that about 1,849,000 deaths per year occur associated with exposure to smoke from biomass burning indoors. Apart from the issue of indoor exposure of mainly women and children and the adverse health effects on the spot, open cooking, due to its widespread use, has become an issue what regards the Global emission of POPs. The study presented compares indoor and outdoor air levels in a typical development country environment in Mexico where wood is used for open cooking. It was demonstrated, that under typical cooking scenarios, the indoor exposure with Dioxins and Furans is about twice the exposure outdoors. Due to the low additoinal exposure indoor (when compared to the more dominant exposure through food), it is concluded that the indoor risk are more associated with particulate matter and presumably PAH. Apart from the indoor exposure assessment, emission factors (EFs) for open cooking were obtained. These EFs will be used in the Standardized Toolkit for the quantification of Dioxin and Furan releases, an instrument applied in the compilation of the national Dioxin Inventories in the context of the implementation of the Stockholm Convention of POPs.JRC.H.1-Water Resource