While there has always been a widespread interest in the filed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, little research was performed in the 1970s and 1980s on their aza-analogues. However, the development of analytical methods has facilitated their analysis in our environment; their occurrence in diesel exhaust coupled with the increasing use of diesel fuel has generated an increased interest during recent years, in both the analytical field and the mode of biological action of these compounds. Such laboratory work generates wastes and may occasion spills, which have to be decontaminated.
The following polycyclic heterocyclic hydrocarbons (PHC) Dibenz[a,j]acridine, Dibenz[a,h]acridine, 7H-Dibenzo[c,g]carbazole and 13H-Dibenzo[a,i]carbazole are considered in this volume. The methods described for the destruction of specific compounds may be applicable to others from the same group.
