Soil pollution by chlorobenzenes and polychlorinated biphenyls from an electronic waste recycling area in Northern Vietnam

We investigated soil pollution by chlorobenzenes (CBzs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Bui Dau, a village in Vietnam known for informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities. The total concentrations of CBzs and PCBs ranged from 17 to 1,400 ng/g and 2.0 to 7,200 ng/g, respectively, with the highest concentrations of the two compounds detected at e-waste open burning sites (EOBSs) in the survey area. The homologue profiles of CBzs and PCBs in the soils collected at the EOBSs were different from those in municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash. This result suggests that CBzs are formed from different processes during the open burning of e-waste and municipal solid waste incineration, even though both are combustion processes. The spatial distributions of CBzs and PCBs and the results of a multiple comparison test showed that these compounds were released from the EOBSs and spread around this survey area.