“Environmental fingerprinting” of waste combustion products based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations

The design and construction of thermal waste disposal facilities (including energy production) faces a number of limitations when choosing the technologies used. One of the most important environmental requirements is to prevent the release of toxic compounds contained in the combustion products of household waste, including carcinogenic substances. One of the groups of these compounds is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): toxic hydrocarbon compounds that are persistent in the environment, which are present in the combustion products of many materials and may also be petrogenic in nature (they are formed during low-temperature processes not related to burning). An important property of PAHs is marker qualities: their presence in the studied objects indicates a certain source of their origin (linked to certain natural or man-made processes). PAH concentration ratios are used in many domestic and foreign studies to identify the source of contamination. However, the boundary values of the indicator ratios used do not always fully unambiguously characterize the source of pollution, and the ratios themselves are informative to varying degrees for different environments and different natural conditions. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the use of PAH indicator ratios for pollution control as a result of incineration of various categories of waste. The materials for the study are the results of analytical determinations of polyarene concentrations in waste incineration products at domestic and foreign thermal recycling facilities. Indicator ratios of PAHs (a method of “environmental fingerprinting” of pollution sources widely known in foreign practice) have been tested for these objects. Using the methods of multidimensional data analysis (the principal component method), the most informative indicator ratios that can be recommended for use have been determined. Identification of the genesis of PAHs makes it possible to control the amount of pollution in the components of natural environments caused by emissions and waste from the combustion of materials, which contributes to a more objective control of anthropogenic loads.