A Review on the Environmental Impact of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Dioxins Emitted from Accidental Fires

Abstract

This paper reviews some recent studies on environmental and health impacts of emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (i. e. PAHs), in comparison with that of dioxins, particularly polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (i. e. PCDD/Fs), in the soot and/or residual ash samples collected after accidental fires or during fire experiments.
Application of unit risk for cancer to the analytical results for the soot or ash samples collected after two vehicle fire tests in a traffic tunnel and after some actual accidental fires in Germany implied that carcinogenic risk of PAHs emitted from accidental fires was much higher than that of PCDD/Fs contained in the same fire residue sample.