Abstract
The process of corpse cremation generates numerous harmful air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals. These pollutants could have severe effects on the surrounding environment and human health. Currently, the awareness of the emission levels of harmful air pollutants from cremators and their emission characteristics is insufficient. In this study, we obtained the emission characteristics of flue gas from cremators in Beijing and determined the localized emission factors and emission levels of harmful air pollutants based on actual monitoring data from nine typical cremators. The results show that the emissions of air pollutants from the cremators that directly discharge flue gas exceed the emission standards of China and Beijing. The installation of a flue gas post-treatment system could effectively reduce gaseous pollutants and the emission levels of PM. After being equipped with a flue gas post-treatment system, the emission concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, CO, SO2 and VOCs from the cremators are reduced by 97.6, 99.2, 19.6, 85.2 and 70.7%, respectively. Moreover, the emission factors of TSP, PM10, PM2.5, CO, SO2 and VOCs are also reduced to 12.5, 9.3, 3.0, 164.1, 8.8 and 19.8 g/body. Although the emission concentration of VOCs from the cremators is not high, they are one of major sources of “odor” in the crematories and demand more attention. Benzene, a chemical that can seriously harm human health, constitutes the largest proportion (~50%) of the chemical components of VOCs in the flue gas from the cremators.
Highlights
China has the highest annual number of deaths in the world
In this study, monitoring was conducted for the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) (TSP, PM10 and PM2.5) and gaseous pollutants (SO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), CO and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) emitted from nine typical cremators in Beijing as well as the related parameters
The emission concentration of total suspended particulates (TSP) from those cremators without flue gas post-treatment systems ranged from 104.8 to 1,323.5 mg Nm3 (@ 11% O2; the same as below), with an average concentration of 393.7 mg Nm-3, which greatly exceeded the emission limit for PM specified by local standards (30 mg Nm-3)
Summary
China has the highest annual number of deaths in the world. According to the “China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbook 2015”, China’s national death toll was 9.77 million, and its corpse cremation rate was 47% in 2014. The process of corpse cremation generates numerous harmful. Emission characteristics of harmful air pollutants from cremators (2017000021733G105). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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