Dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls - Sources, analysis and treatment processes

Pollution and pollutant emissions are the focus of attention when we talk about "health risks" . Dioxin emissions, due in particular to the combustion of household waste, dominated the headlines until the late 2010s. The media were the main mouthpieces for people living near household waste incineration plants, and for consumers of chicken meat, whose dioxin levels exceeded current regulatory standards. The toxicity of these halogenated polyaromatic molecules is well established . The Seveso accident in Italy on July 10, 1976 is also on everyone's minds. Studies on populations exposed to massive spills of defoliant products, Agent Orange, containing dioxins at 0.1 to 60 ppm, during the Vietnam War, have shown harmful effects on human health. These complex-structured molecules of dioxins (PCDD-PBDD), furans (PCDF-PBDF) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are found in industrial or domestic gaseous emissions, either adsorbed on dust or in low concentrations in smoke. They are then found in the atmosphere along with related products, together forming the family of persistent organic products (POPs) . Alongside the classic PCDD/Fs, recent research has also focused on brominated and chlorobrominated compounds (PBDD/Fs and PBCDD/Fs).

This article briefly presents the general problem of dioxins, furans and PCBs in gaseous emissions. It is divided into five main sections, presenting the structures and characteristics of these molecules, their sources and impact on human health (specific regulations are outlined here), sampling and analysis methods, mainly in air, followed by some recent results, and finally the main technologies available for flue gas cleaning.