Occupational Health Risk Assessment Of Benzene
And Toluene At A Landfill Site In Johannesburg,
South Africa
Author(s)
R. Moolla, S. K. Valsamakis, C. J. Curtis & S. J. Piketh
Abstract
In developing countries land-filling is the most common form of waste
management that is practiced. Landfills are known to be anthropogenic sources
of air pollutants that have a negative impact on both environmental and human
health. People who work on landfill sites are particularly at risk of adverse health
effects associated with the inhalation of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), such as
volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Although VOCs only make up between
0.5% and 1% of total landfill gas, they are important due to the high level of
toxicity associated with them. Regular air quality monitoring and hazard risk
assessments provide important information that can be used in an effort to
protect the health and safety of people working in a landfill environment. This is
especially important within a developing context as relevant information is
limited. In this study an occupational health risk assessment of benzene and
toluene was conducted at a landfill in Johannesburg, South Africa. Applying an
approach of modelling (using LandGEM) results indicated a significant increase
in emission rates over a 90 year period. In addition, ambient air concentrations of
BTEX, 100 meters from the landfill, were found to be unacceptable by US EPA
air quality recommended standards. Additionally, cancer risk and hazard index
calculations of benzene and toluene, of employees on-site, indicated that
occupational exposures were above US EPA recommended standards. Thus, it
was shown that employees were significantly at risk to adverse health effects
associated with inhalation exposure to these HAPs.
Keywords: occupational health risk assessment, landfill, benzene, toluene.
Keywords
occupational health risk assessment, landfill, benzene, toluene
Related Book
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