Life cycle assessment of concrete production with a focus on air pollutants and the desired risk parameters using genetic algorithm

Background: Through a new systematic perspective, the HSE-integrated management system attempts to examine the relationships between safety, health and environment. The purpose of this system is to provide a coordinated, comprehensive and precautionary assessment of the issues and incidents within concrete plants.

Methods: In addition to a life cycle assessment (LCA) of concrete through air pollutant emissions in this study, the extraction and monitoring of pollutant from three concrete plants in the city of Mashhad are carried out via fieldwork. In the present study, a number of factors such as the extent and time of exposure to each pollutant are estimated using the meta-heuristic genetic algorithm approach (GA) in order to create the desirable risk rate (risk rate ≤ 3).

Results: The results of life cycle assessment indicate the production of 348 kg Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) per cubic meter of concrete processing. However, in addition to its environmental effects, CO₂ in concentrations of more than 5000 ppm may cause asphyxiation as well as epidemiologic effects on the staff.

Conclusion: The results of the study show that in order to reduce the risks of developing chronic diseases such as lung cancer, the staff in cement processing sector must be exposed to a period of at most 3.5 h for each 8-h work interval.