[Concentrations and distribution characteristics of PCDD/Fs in spent etching solution and its copper salt recycling...

Concentrations of 17 PCDD/Fs congeners in spent etching solution and its copper salt recycling products were determined by the high resolution gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS). The PCDD/F concentrations and corresponding WHO-TEQ (toxic equivalent quantity) values were in the range of 0-3 460 pg.L (mean= 616 pg.L-1) and 0-246 pg.L-1 (mean = 42.9 pg.L-1) , respectively, in the spent etching solution, and 1.08-24.6 ng.kg-1 (mean = 8.83 ng.kg-1) and 0.112-0.715 ng.kg-1 (mean = 0.338 ng.kg-1), respectively, in the copper salt products. The established purification treatment technique could remove most of the PCDD/Fs in the etching solution. Of the copper products, higher PCDD/F concentrations were detected in industrial products than in feed grade and plating grade products. Similar distribution characteristics were found for PCDD/ Fs in all copper salt products as the followings: 1. PCDFs were more abundant than PCDDs, 2. high chlorinated congeners were more abundant than low chlorinated congeners, except for 2,3,7,8-TCDF in the copper sulfate products.