Abstract
Volatile organic compounds play an important role in air quality and human health. In this study, the characterization of volatile organic compounds in three sites viz., Blast Hole Drilling Yard, Conveyor Belt Yard and Belt Reconditioning Plant in a lignite mine were carried out. The entire sampling and analysis were carried out as per the compendium of methods to determine toxic organic compounds in ambient air (Compendium method TO-17). Probabilistic health risk assessment for non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk was carried out using the Monte-Carlo method. The total volatile organic compounds present in blast-hole drilling, conveyor belt yard and belt reconditioning plant were observed to be 78, 57 and 2763.68 µg/m3, respectively. Chloroform was detected in higher concentrations in blast-hole drilling and conveyor belt yard, whereas toluene was detected at belt reconditioning plant. The levels of detected compounds were within the permissible limits as prescribed by the Indian and International agencies. The level of naphthalene is likely to cause non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic effects among the occupants of the belt reconditioning plant. The major contributor to the total carcinogenic risk in blast-hole drilling and conveyor belt yard was chloroform, contributing a mean risk of 1.43E−04 and 1.5E−04, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that the concentration of pollutants is the most critical parameter in determining the output risk. The cleaning agents, degreasing agents, accelerators used in reconditioning, etc., may be the probable sources of volatile organic compounds in these microenvironments. The results obtained in the study highlight the requirement of a risk-based regulatory system.
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The authors thankfully acknowledge the financial support provided by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment [KSCSTE/542/2018-ETP], Kerala, India.
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Funds received from Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Kerala, India for the analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds.
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Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis and investigation, Writing—original draft preparation: AS; Writing—review and editing: AS and GKV; Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision: GKV and RV.
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Sekar, A., Varghese, G.K. & Varma, R. Exposure to volatile organic compounds and associated health risk among workers in lignite mines. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 4293–4306 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04056-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04056-4