Concentrations and co-occurrence of 101 emerging and legacy organic pollutants in the ultrafine, fine and coarse fractions of airborne particulates associated with treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment

Donatella Pomata; Patrizia Di Filippo; Carmela Riccardi; Francesca Buiarelli; Federico Marini; Leonardo Romani; Franco Lucarelli; Giulia Pazzi; Roberta Galarini; Giulia Simonetti

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139443

Concentrations and co-occurrence of 101 emerging and legacy organic pollutants in the ultrafine, fine and coarse fractions of airborne particulates associated with treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment

Chemosphere. 2023 Oct:338:139443. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139443. Epub 2023 Jul 13.

Affiliations

¹ DIT, Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00143, Rome, Italy.
² DIT, Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL), 00143, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: p.difilippo@inail.it.
³ Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy and INFN, University of Florence, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.
⁵ Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Umbria and Marche, 06126, Perugia, Italy.

PMID: 37453523
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139443

Abstract

Occupational exposure to airborne particles can increase the development of morbidity, also because of the chemical composition of particulate matter (PM). In workplace, where manual and mechanical disassembly of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) take place, there are evident risks of respiratory exposure to a great number of different toxic organic compounds present in the electrical and plastic materials of which the equipment is made. Airborne particles are numerous, cover a wide range of sizes and are rich in toxic organic compounds. In the present work, a sampling program was conducted and ultrafine, fine and coarse airborne particles were collected in three EEE waste treatment plants. Afterwards, the extraction and analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their nitro and oxygenated derivatives (nitroPAHs, oxyPAHs), organophosphorus compounds (OPEs), Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFASs) was performed. The percentage ratio of the mass of organic compounds and the mass of the ultrafine fraction of PM (PM_0.1) was higher than those of the fine and coarse fractions. Even with low concentrations, the co-occurrence of numerous potentially toxic compounds capable of easily reaching other organs passing by the lung vasculature, through the lymph makes the working environment unhealthy.

Keywords: Airborne microplastic; Flame retardants; Halogenated and phosphate organic compounds; Occupational exposure; Ultrafine particles.

MeSH terms

Dust / analysis
Electronic Waste* / analysis
Electronics
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants* / analysis
Flame Retardants* / analysis
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / analysis
Occupational Exposure* / analysis
Organic Chemicals / analysis
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Dust
Particulate Matter
Organic Chemicals
Flame Retardants
Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers