Levels of PCDD/Fs in Agricultural Soils near Two Municipal Waste Incinerators in Shanghai, China

A study was conducted on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in agricultural soils at 41 sites within a radius of 3 km from two municipal solid waste incinerators in Shanghai. The PCDD/F concentrations ranged from 71.32 to 3,881.44 pg g−1 (0.64–61.15 pg I-TEQ g−1). The highest PCDD/F concentrations were found approximately 1,000 m from the municipal solid waste incinerators. The PCDD/F homologue profiles of all soil samples were compared with the profiles from suspected PCDD/F sources by multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed that, the PCDD/F pollutions in some soil samples can be attributed to emissions from the municipal solid waste incinerators.