Atmospheric emissions of respirable quartz from industrial activities in China

Qiuting Yang, Guorui Liu (), Lili Yang, Jianghui Yun, Xiaoyue Zhang, Chenyan Zhao, Minghui Zheng and Guibin Jiang
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Qiuting Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guorui Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lili Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jianghui Yun: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaoyue Zhang: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chenyan Zhao: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Minghui Zheng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guibin Jiang: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Sustainability, 2024, vol. 7, issue 9, 1120-1127

Abstract: Abstract Quartz is classified as a group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Atmospheric emissions of respirable quartz in particulate matter released from industrial activities are important for evaluating human exposure. Here we quantified the mass concentrations of quartz as a constituent of particulate matter collected from 118 full-scale industrial plants, comprising 13 main source categories, with the aim of identifying primary industrial contributors. The sources with the highest quartz mass concentrations are waste incineration and electric-arc furnace steelmaking, with average values of 16,924 μg g−1 and 12,005 μg g−1, respectively. Total atmospheric emissions of quartz from the investigated industrial sources are 24,581.3 t. Cement kiln co-processing solid waste, coking plants, pig-iron blast furnaces, iron-ore sintering and steelmaking electric-arc furnaces were identified as the major industrial sources contributing to quartz emissions in China. Quartz emissions arising from the 13 industrial sources could generate up to 77.2% increment in cancer risk for China owing to the high density of these activities. These results provide important fundamental data to assess exposure risks in the general population and enhance sustainability of industrial development.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01388-6

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