Dust Emissions from an Integrated Steel Mill in Correlation with Human Exposure and their Adverse Health Effects

Abstract

Many of the metallurgical operations contribute to generation of the dust emissions if these are not properly controlled and managed. The relevant sectors as important sources for airborne dust are: coke oven plant, sintering equipments, blast furnaces, basic oxygen steelmaking, steel mills and also handling, preparation and transport of raw materials, products, by-products and residues. The annual average values of dust for metallurgical plant and period analysed not exceeds allowable level. The measurements showed that the daily average determined for settled dust varies very high. Sometimes, certain of these exceed the limits of the rules in force for air quality indicators. As result at exposure to generated dust (especially to particulate matter) appear adverse health problems at workers and population that lives in the neighbourhood of steelwork plant. Impact of dust emissions as air pollutant on the population of the vicinity areas is correlated with levels of incidence and prevalence of some specifically diseases. The indicators calculated for evaluation the health status (severity index, relative risk, professional etiological fraction) did not demonstrate the adverse health effects determined by exposure to dust particles in suspension on population that lives in vicinity of the plant. This influence is more likely to workers directly involved in metallurgical activity.