Abstract
Intake fraction was determined in this study to provide insight into population exposures to PM10 that is effectively inhaled due to emissions of an opencast coal mine. We applied the CALPUFF model to a coal mine in Northern Colombia, which has 6 active pits with an annual production of 33.7 million tons. We estimated the intake fractions for 7 towns through the integration of dispersion model results over the population data. The resulting average intake fractions were between 6.13 × 10−9 and 3.66 × 10−8 for PM10. 62.4% of the intake fractions in the domain were calculated within a 23 km radius from the coal mine and coved 44.3% of the total population in this area. We calculated an estimate point for morbidity impacts using standard epidemiological assumptions. It is estimated that there were annually 105835 restricted activity days and 336832 respiratory symptom cases due to the direct impact of the opencast coal mining. These data also provide a framework for improved understanding of the effect of coal mining in Colombia.
Highlights
Numerous epidemiological studies have found a strong association between exposure to particulate matter and adverse health effects [1,2,3,4,5,6]
No other economic activities in the region could be considered as relevant sources of emissions. e particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter
Few studies have examined the regional-scale variation of Intake fractions (iFs) for PM10 associated with opencast coal mining emissions. e majority of previous studies have examined the iFs for PM, for power plant emissions [19, 26, 27], traffic emissions [17, 28,29,30,31], industrial emissions [32, 33], and miscellaneous sources [34]
Summary
Numerous epidemiological studies have found a strong association between exposure to particulate matter and adverse health effects [1,2,3,4,5,6]. According to the most recent Colombian Air Quality Report [12], this area has the highest air pollution levels in Colombia. This zone has been most clearly identified as a public health concern by local residents. It is essential that the long-term relative contribution of emissions from open coal mining sources to the total atmospheric PM10 concentrations is determined in order to establish their impacts and to develop suitable mitigation strategies. Due to the comprehensive amount of information needed to establish the impact of emissions from sources on population health, it is crucial to construct air pollution prediction models in order to develop effective control strategies and to estimate the cost benefits
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