Priority Organic Pollutant Monitoring Inventory and Relative Risk Reduction Potential for Solid Waste Incineration

Incineration is a promising sustainable treatment method
for solid
waste. However, the ongoing revelation of new toxic pollutants in
this process has become a controversial issue impeding its development.
Thus, identifying and regulating high-risk pollutants emerge as pivotal
strides toward reconciling this debate. In this study, we proposed
a workflow aimed at establishing priority monitoring inventories for
organic compounds emitted by industries involving full-component structural
recognition, environmental behavior prediction, and emission risk
assessment, specifically focusing on solid waste incineration (SWI).
A total of 174 stack gas samples from 29 incinerators were first collected.
Nontarget full organic recognition technology was then deployed to
analyze these samples, and 646 organic compounds were identified.
The characteristics, i.e., toxicity effects, toxicity concentrations,
persistence, and bioaccumulation potential, of these compounds were
assessed and ranked based on the TOXCAST database from the US Environmental
Protection Agency and structural effect models. Combined with consideration
of changes in seasons and waste types, a priority control inventory
consisting of 28 organic pollutants was finally proposed. The risks
associated with SWI across different regions in China and various
countries were assessed, and results pinpointed that by controlling
the priority pollutants, the average global emission risk attributed
to SWI was anticipated to be reduced by 71.4%. These findings offer
significant guidance for decision-making in industrial pollutant management,
emphasizing the importance of targeted regulation and monitoring to
enhance the sustainability and safety of incineration processes.