A methodology for the determination of fugitive dust emissions from landfill sites

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of a methodology for the determination of the contribution of fugitive dust emissions from landfill sites to ambient PM10 concentrations and the subsequent exposure to working personnel. Fugitive dust emissions in landfills mainly originate from resuspension due to truck traffic on paved and unpaved roads and from wind-blown dust from landfill cover soil. The results revealed that exposure to PM10, originating from fugitive dust emissions in the landfill site, was exceeding the health protection standards (50 μg m−3). The higher average daily PM10 concentration (average value) for weekdays was equal to 275 μg m−3 and was computed for the areas nearby the unpaved road located inside the landfill facilities that lead to the landfill cell. The percentage contributions of road and wind-blown dust to the PM10 concentrations on weekdays were equal to 76 and 1 %, respectively. The influence of the background concentration is estimated close to 23 %.