Abstract
Despite its significant positive impact on environmental quality, rendering industry still suffers, on a global basis, from nuisance odour problems that can contribute to public complaints about health problems, social and individual life disruption. This study was carried out in the surroundings of the animal rendering plant in Southwest Greece, after compulsory cessation of operation in May 2020. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined in the ambient air in four sampling campaigns and the Odour Activity Values (OAVs) were calculated for odorants. Past and present odour nuisance perceived by residents was assessed through a questionnaire. The results revealed a significant reduction by half in the total concentration of VOCs. Main offensive odorants totally disappeared. The sum of OAVs decreased by 89% in 2020 and 71% in 2021, in relation to the operation period. Residents reported a significant reduction in the frequency, intensity, duration and annoyance of the odour after termination of the rendering activities. Non-specific health symptoms (nausea, respiratory problems, etc.) that participants were experiencing in the past, no longer occurred. Given that the rendering industry follows by default the concept of circular economy, and adds to environmental safety, economy and public health protection, its operation should be kept pursued but under odour abatement strategies. Rendering facilities should be settled at industrial areas and utilize existing modern and environmentally friendly technologies to effectively control odour emissions and eliminate health and social impact.
Highlights
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Odour annoyance was substantially eliminated after closure of a rendering plant
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VOCs in ambient air decreased by 48% after termination of operation
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Residents report a significant amelioration in their life quality
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Data Availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.
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Acknowledgments
An initial version of the paper has been included in the e-Proceedings of the “15th International Conference on Protection and Restoration of the Environment”, 2020, Patras, Greece, ISBN 978-618-82337-2-0. The authors would like to acknowledge all the residents who participated in this survey. The authors are thankful to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service for providing the meteorological data. The authors gratefully acknowledge Professor Athanassios Argiriou for his valuable contribution in the calculation of Pasquill Stability Class.
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Michalis Leotsinidis contributed to the study’s conception, design and supervision. Eleni Sazakli and Athina Fidaki performed material preparation, data collection, and analysis. Eleni Sazakli wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and Michalis Leotsinidis performed writing review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Patras (no. 8124) and conformed to the ethical guidelines of the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013.
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Sazakli, E., Fidaki, A. & Leotsinidis, M. VOCs in Ambient Air and Community Odour Assessment before and after the Closure of an Animal Rendering Plant. Environ. Process. 9, 35 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-022-00579-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-022-00579-7