Chlorinated Dioxin and Furan Congener Profiles from Pentachlorophenol Sources

Abstract

Pentachlorphenol (PCP) was widely used as a biocide and insecticide for wood preservation. Chlorinated dioxins and furans (2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD and PCDF congeners) were inadvertent byproducts of PCP production. As such, it is an important source of PCDD/F contamination in treated wood and in soil/ sediment near sites that produced or used PCP. It has been noted in the literature, that PCP congener profiles are similar to some combustion profiles, as well as sewage sludge and particulate deposition. In a very broad sense, this is true. OCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD are typically the dominant constituents in these source categories. There is however, a distinct, consistent and repeatable feature in the lower chlorinated tetra, penta and hexa PCDD/F range of PCP related samples: an order of magnitude increase in concentration as a function of degree of chlorination. Because lower chlorinated furans concentrations make up less than 1% of the total PCDD/F in PCP, it is difficult to differentiate PCP from other OCDD dominated source profiles on bar-graphs that use a linear-scale y axis. Using a log-scale y axis, however, PCP impacted profiles are obvious, and are not easily confused with congener profiles from other sources.