Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of long-lived polyhalogenated organic compounds that are primarily anthropogenic, and contribute toxic, persistent organic pollution in the environment. They are commonly but inaccurately referred to as dioxins for simplicity, because every PCDD molecule contains a dibenzo-1,4-dioxin skeletal structure, with 1,4-dioxin as the central ring. Members of the PCDD family bioaccumulate in humans and wildlife because of their lipophilic properties, and may cause developmental disturbances and cancer. Because dioxins can persist in the environment for more than 100 years, the majority of PCDD pollution today is not the result of recent emissions, but the cumulative result of synthetic processes undertaken since the beginning of the 20th century, including organochloride-related manufacturing, incineration of chlorine-containing substances such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and chlorine bleaching of paper. Forest fires and volcanic eruptions have also been cited as an airborne source, although their contribution to the current levels of PCDD accumulation are minor in comparison. Incidents of dioxin poisoning resulting from industrial emissions and accidents were first recorded as early as the mid 19th century during the Industrial Revolution. The word "dioxins" may also refer to other similarly acting chlorinated compounds (see Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds). The structure of dibenzo-1,4-dioxin consists of two benzene rings joined by two oxygen bridges. This makes the compound an aromatic diether. The name dioxin formally refers to the central dioxygenated ring, which is stabilized by the two flanking benzene rings. In PCDDs, chlorine atoms are attached to this structure at any of 8 different places on the molecule, at positions 1–4 and 6–9. There are 75 different PCDD congeners (that is, related dioxin compounds). The toxicity of PCDDs depends on the number and positions of the chlorine atoms. Congeners that have chlorine in the 2, 3, 7, and 8 positions have been found to be significantly toxic.

Assessment of past dioxin emissions from waste incineration plants based on archive studies and process modeling: a new methodological tool

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Xiaocheng Zhang

Pollution from past industrial activities can remain unnoticed for years or even decades because the pollutant has only recently gained attention or identified by measurements. Modeling the emission history of pollution is essential for estimating populati ...

2024

Chlorination of arenes via the degradation of toxic chlorophenols

Paul Joseph Dyson, Mingyang Liu, Xuemei Yang

Aryl chlorides are among the most versatile synthetic precursors, and yet inexpensive and benign chlorination techniques to produce them are underdeveloped. We propose a process to generate aryl chlorides by chloro-group transfer from chlorophenol pollutan ...

2022