Abstract
ABSTRACT Toxic metals in particulate matter pose a significant health risk to humans via inhalation and dermal exposure. Additionally, airborne pollution has negative impacts on terrestrial and aquatic quality as a result of atmospheric deposition. Iron and steelmaking industry is considered as a major contributor to airborne metal pollution. Given that China has been the largest steel producer and consumer since 1996, a detailed investigation of airborne metal pollution is required to assess the potential risks to both human health and ecosystem quality near iron and steelmaking areas in China. This study applied an environmental impact assessment approach to evaluate the freshwater ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity and human toxicity caused by metal concentrations in PM1.1, PM1.1-2.1 and PM2.1-9.0 fractions. Results showed that heavy metals Cu and Zn associated with steelmaking activities were largely responsible for aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity. This study also found that As and Pb contamination presented the largest fraction of the impacts on human toxicity. Findings presented in this study showed that more stringent control measures are required to improve the environmental performance of the iron and steelmaking industries in China.
Highlights
Air pollution is a by-product of the rapid economic growth with increasing global urbanization and industrialization
According to the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre (CNEMC) air quality data, the air quality index (AQI) at the sampling site KM was ‘Good’ (AQI = 51–100) with PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations ranging from 22–38 μg m–3 and 63–95 μg m–3, respectively (Table 1)
This was found at NB site where the official AQI was ‘Excellent’ (AQI = 0–50) with the minimum values of PM2.5 and PM10 at 13 and 18 μg m–3, respectively, while the sampling results presented in this study near the steel manufacturing area were 23 and 33 μg m–3 for PM2.1 and PM9.0, respectively
Summary
Air pollution is a by-product of the rapid economic growth with increasing global urbanization and industrialization. According to the World Health Organization, it was estimated that 91% of the global population lives in places where the air quality is below the threshold guidelines (WHO, 2018). People living under poor air quality conditions have increased potential to develop a range of pollution-related illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections (Cheng et al, 2019). Particulate matter (PM), as one of the common air pollutants, is a proxy indicator of air quality due to the strong association with public health impacts (WHO, 2018; Sarkodie et al, 2019). It has been evidenced that 3% of cardiopulmonary and 5% of lung cancer deaths are associated with the global PM pollution (WHO, 2013)
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