Surrogate compounds for dioxins in incineration. A review

Dioxins, formed in any combustion process where carbon, oxygen and chlorine are present, are a subject of major interest due to their toxicity. Their measurement is very expensive and time consuming. In order to optimize the combustion process, on-line measurements of pollutants must be done. The use of surrogate compounds instead of dioxins seems to be a convenient method to overcome the aforementioned drawback. This work is a review of the literature dedicated to the possible surrogate compounds for dioxins; the relationships found were systematized and, in some cases, the available experimental data were used and original correlations were found. Correlation of surrogate compounds was found to be: incinerator, feedstock, process and sample point location specific. Amongst the possible surrogates, chlorobenzenes show real possibilities to be good indicators for toxic equivalent factors.