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Dispersion of NO2 and SO2 pollutants in the rolling industry with AERMOD model: a case study to assess human health risk

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Abstract

Steel and rolling industry are the most important industries polluting the environment. Therefore, aim of this study is to make an emission model for SO2 and NO2 pollutants released from the rolling industry of Sepid-Farab Kavir Steel (SKS) complex using the AERMOD model and health risk assessment. Sampling pollutants released from SKS complex was performed in January 2017 at 10 different sites. Distribution of these pollutants was investigated by AERMOD model, domain site of AERMOD was designed for area around the factory with a radius of 30 km, and also SO2 and NO2 modeling was performed for both natural gas and liquid fuel. Human health risk assessment was also studied. The results of this study demonstrated the emission of SO2 and NO2 from this complex is less than the maximum allowable, when used natural gas as the main fuel. The hourly concentration of SO2 reached about 324 μg/m3, which in higher than the standard value for 1 h. Considering the findings, the urban gas is considered as a clean source in terms of furnace air output and the concentration of emitted pollutants. Also, it has no side effects on workers’ health.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Student Research Committee, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Hesami Arani

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Hesami Arani & Mehrdad Moslemzadeh

  3. Environmental Technologies Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Neamatollah Jaafarzadeh

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Rezvani Ghalhari

  5. Graphit, Aran and Bidgol University of Applied Science and Technology, Isfahan, Iran

    Samaneh Bagheri Arani

  6. Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, and Department of Environment Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

    Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh

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  1. Mohsen Hesami Arani
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  2. Neamatollah Jaafarzadeh
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  3. Mehrdad Moslemzadeh
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Contributions

Study conception and methodology: Mohsen Hesami Arani and Nematollah Jaafarzadeh. Data analysis: Mohsen Hesami Arani, Mohammad Rezvani Ghalhari. Investigation: Mohsen Hesami Arani and Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh. Writing – original draft: Mohsen Hesami Arani, Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh and Mehrdad Moslemzadeh. Writing – review & editing: Mohsen Hesami Arani, Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh, Mehrdad Moslemzadeh and Samaneh Bagheri Arani. Corresponding Author: Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh.

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Hesami Arani, M., Jaafarzadeh, N., Moslemzadeh, M. et al. Dispersion of NO2 and SO2 pollutants in the rolling industry with AERMOD model: a case study to assess human health risk. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 19, 1287–1298 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-021-00686-x

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