Levels and Patterns of Pcdd/Fs in Air, Soil and Biota from Krakow and the Malopolska Region (Poland)

In the new EU Member States domestic combustion of coal and wood in small heating appliances has been discussed as a potential source of PCDD/Fs into the atmosphere . The existing Dioxin emission inventories from the old Member States-EU 15 are lacking quantitative information about their actual contribution to total PCDD/F emissions, since these type of heating appliances do not play a big role in the EU 15. However, high PCDD/F levels in ambient air measured during winter time in Poland indicate an important contribution from domestic heating. The widespread use of hard coal in Krakow for domestic heating makes this area appropriate for studying the influence on ambient PCDD/Fs levels. In a first study in 2002 particulate matter in air from the city-centre (Aleje) and an industrial area (Nova Huta) in Krakow were compared to a rural region without industry (Zakopane approximately 100 km south of Krakow), in order to visualize urban and industrial impacts. The comparison of summer and winter data shall help to visualize the signal from domestic heating in terms of concentrations and the relative distribution of individual PCDD/Fs (congener pattern). The second part of this study (2005) contributed additional air samples (this time particulate matter and gas phase) during 2 weeks in winter 2005 from two sites in the city of Krakow. To study also the impact of emissions on the environmental pollution in the region, a transect of soil samples (the sink of atmospheric deposition) and biota (spruce needles as an indicator of the bio-availability) were taken between Krakow–Zakopane and from Krakow to the east. Conclusions: The 2002 campaign on ambient air demonstrated a major role of domestic heating on the PCDD/F levels present in the ambient air of urban and especially rural areas where coal is used, but also diffuse release from industrial processes at Nova Huta may have an impact on a local scale. However, the comparably high PCDD/F concentrations found in ambient air of Krakow/Malopolska region do not seem to result in enhanced PCDD/F deposition into the Malopolska ecosystem (the concentrations of PCDD/Fs in soil and spruce were comparable to data available from Western Europe). The comparison of human breast milk data supports the hypothesis that the overall PCDD/F exposure in Poland does not exceed the EU average: A recent breast milk study from Poland reports Dioxin levels of 12-13 pg TEQ /g fat, which is in the range found in other European countries with median TEQ-values between 6 and 18 pg/g fat. Obviously, this does not mean that there is no problem with PCDD/Fs in ambient air at the sites investigated in this study. However, reduction measures targeted towards particulate matter will reduce at the same time the levels of PCDD/Fs originating from combustion, which have been shown to be predominantly particle bound.JRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource