Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners
Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the scale of emission and airborne dispersion of selected pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, TVOC, HCHO) associated with the combustion of various types of municipal waste (MW), its mixed stream and separate fractions, in a household furnace, as compared to conve...
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Nature Portfolio
2024-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83572-4 |
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| author | Alicja Kicińska Grzegorz Caba Fernando Barria-Parra |
| author_facet | Alicja Kicińska Grzegorz Caba Fernando Barria-Parra |
| author_sort | Alicja Kicińska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the scale of emission and airborne dispersion of selected pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, TVOC, HCHO) associated with the combustion of various types of municipal waste (MW), its mixed stream and separate fractions, in a household furnace, as compared to conventional (CF) and alternative (AF) fuels. We demonstrated that each type of fuel (AF, CF, AFw) combusted in a household furnace is a significant source of air pollutants, especially fine PM2.5 particles, whose concentrations exceeded the limit values (3.1–17.2 times for PM2.5 and 0.5–7.4 times for PM10). The combustion of MW in household furnaces generated higher levels of PM2.5 (up to 345 µg/m3) and PM10 (up to 369 µg/m3) than AF or CF, at the same time being a significant source of TVOC (up to 0.3 mg/m3) and HCHO (0.4 mg/m3). The analysis showed that according to the Polish and European classification, air quality (AQI) during the combustion of all the materials analyzed is very poor (n = 12) or extremely poor (n = 19). The combustion of such materials as polystyrene, rubber and upholstery foam in household furnaces generates drastically high health risk to local inhabitants. We found that the combustion of polystyrene generated the highest Cancer Risk (CR) values of 1.04E-01 (children) and 2.60E-02 (adults), exceeding the acceptable level multiple times (CR > 10–6). Inhalation exposure to very poor air quality can lead to health problems, such as disorders of the respiratory, cardiovascular and immune systems. Additional risk is posed by solid fuel combustion in rural areas, which may be a significant factor deteriorating the chemical condition of soils, especially those used for agricultural purposes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c3d974270f494c1385091e16767d6616 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-c3d974270f494c1385091e16767d66162025-01-05T12:26:29ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-12-0114111510.1038/s41598-024-83572-4Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their ownersAlicja Kicińska0Grzegorz Caba1Fernando Barria-Parra2Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Protection, AGH University of KrakowFaculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Protection, AGH University of KrakowProspecting and Environment Laboratory (Promediam), Universidad Politecnica de MadridAbstract The aim of the study was to determine the scale of emission and airborne dispersion of selected pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, TVOC, HCHO) associated with the combustion of various types of municipal waste (MW), its mixed stream and separate fractions, in a household furnace, as compared to conventional (CF) and alternative (AF) fuels. We demonstrated that each type of fuel (AF, CF, AFw) combusted in a household furnace is a significant source of air pollutants, especially fine PM2.5 particles, whose concentrations exceeded the limit values (3.1–17.2 times for PM2.5 and 0.5–7.4 times for PM10). The combustion of MW in household furnaces generated higher levels of PM2.5 (up to 345 µg/m3) and PM10 (up to 369 µg/m3) than AF or CF, at the same time being a significant source of TVOC (up to 0.3 mg/m3) and HCHO (0.4 mg/m3). The analysis showed that according to the Polish and European classification, air quality (AQI) during the combustion of all the materials analyzed is very poor (n = 12) or extremely poor (n = 19). The combustion of such materials as polystyrene, rubber and upholstery foam in household furnaces generates drastically high health risk to local inhabitants. We found that the combustion of polystyrene generated the highest Cancer Risk (CR) values of 1.04E-01 (children) and 2.60E-02 (adults), exceeding the acceptable level multiple times (CR > 10–6). Inhalation exposure to very poor air quality can lead to health problems, such as disorders of the respiratory, cardiovascular and immune systems. Additional risk is posed by solid fuel combustion in rural areas, which may be a significant factor deteriorating the chemical condition of soils, especially those used for agricultural purposes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83572-4PM2.5PM10TVOCHCHOHealth risk |
| spellingShingle | Alicja Kicińska Grzegorz Caba Fernando Barria-Parra Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners Scientific Reports PM2.5 PM10 TVOC HCHO Health risk |
| title | Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| title_full | Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| title_fullStr | Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| title_full_unstemmed | Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| title_short | Burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| title_sort | burning of municipal waste in household furnaces and the health of their owners |
| topic | PM2.5 PM10 TVOC HCHO Health risk |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83572-4 |
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