Inhalation health risk assessment of incineration and landfill in the Bohai Rim, China

Wenchao Ma; Zhuoshi Huang; Jicui Cui; Abdoulaye Boré; Guanyi Chen; Zhi Qiao; Ziyang Lou; Johann Fellner

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137588

Inhalation health risk assessment of incineration and landfill in the Bohai Rim, China

Chemosphere. 2023 Feb:314:137588. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137588. Epub 2022 Dec 27.

Authors

Wenchao Ma¹, Zhuoshi Huang¹, Jicui Cui², Abdoulaye Boré¹, Guanyi Chen³, Zhi Qiao⁴, Ziyang Lou⁵, Johann Fellner⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
³ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China; School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, 300134, China.
⁴ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China. Electronic address: qiaozhi@tju.edu.cn.
⁵ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China; China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 201306, China.
⁶ Christian Doppler Laboratory for Anthropogenic Resource, Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, TU Wien, Austria; Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, TU Wien, Austria.

PMID: 36584833
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137588

Abstract

An inhalation health risks assessment of 96 waste to energy (WtE) plants and 178 landfills in the Bohai Rim, located in northeast China, has been conducted. Based on the latest emission inventories in 2020, WRF/CALPUFF was used to simulate the diffusion of pollutants. Population-weighted hazard index (HI) and carcinogenic risk (CR) of incineration and landfill for each pollutant and each target organ impacted were calculated. The health risks of incineration and landfill were correlated with per capita municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal quantity, emission factors, pollutant toxic effects and local migration and diffusion conditions. The HI of incineration and landfill in the Bohai Rim were 4.07 × 10^-3 and 4.79 × 10^-3, respectively, which was lower than the acceptable level (HI < 1), while the CR of incineration and landfill were 4.72 × 10^-7 and 2.58 × 10^-7, respectively, which was also lower than the acceptable level (CR < 1 × 10^-6). The non-carcinogenic risks of incineration mainly targeted respiratory system and development system, while the non-carcinogenic risks of landfill mainly targeted nervous system and respiratory system. The carcinogenic risks of incineration mainly targeted respiratory system and digestive system, while the carcinogenic risks of landfill mainly targeted hepatic system and respiratory system. With the trend that incineration phase in, while landfill phase out, the number of patients for 15 target organ diseases caused by the disposal of unit mass MSW would decrease in the Bohai Rim, ranging from 1.8 × 10^-8 - 1.8 × 10^-2 (pop/t)，especially in developed provinces, such as Beijing and Tianjin. However, the number of patients for 4 target organ diseases caused by the disposal of unit mass MSW would increase, ranging from 1.18 × 10^-6 - 5.28 × 10^-3 (pop/t). Based on pollutants' pathogenic mechanisms, this study innovatively accessed and compared incineration and landfill's health risks of target organs, and provide technical and policy suggestions based on the changing trend of MSW disposal methods in the future.

Keywords: Human health risk assessment; Landfill; Pollutant emission; Target organ; Waste to energy (WtE).

MeSH terms

Carcinogens
China
Environmental Pollutants*
Humans
Incineration
Refuse Disposal* / methods
Risk Assessment
Solid Waste / analysis
Waste Disposal Facilities

Substances

Solid Waste
Environmental Pollutants
Carcinogens