Investigation of the Presence Volatile Organic Compounds (BTEX) in the Ambient Air and Biogases Produced by a Shiraz Landfill in Southern Iran

Fahimeh Khademi, Mohammad Reza Samaei, Abbas Shahsavani, Kourosh Azizi, Amin Mohammadpour, Zahra Derakhshan, Stefanos Giannakis, Jorge Rodriguez-Chueca and Muhammad Bilal
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Fahimeh Khademi: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7153675541, Iran
Mohammad Reza Samaei: Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7153675541, Iran
Abbas Shahsavani: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1985717443, Iran
Kourosh Azizi: Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7153675541, Iran
Amin Mohammadpour: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7153675541, Iran
Zahra Derakhshan: Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Environmental Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7153675541, Iran
Stefanos Giannakis: Unidad Docente Ingeniería Sanitaria, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil: Hidráulica, Energía y Medio Ambiente, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, c/Profesor Aranguren, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Jorge Rodriguez-Chueca: Departamento de Ingeniería Química Industrial y del Medio Ambiente, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, c/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Muhammad Bilal: School of Life Science and Food Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian 223003, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The generation and emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) affects the environment and air quality, playing an important role in global warming, depletion of atmospheric ozone and emission of unpleasant odors, but also directly affect human health. This study investigated the health risks of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) compounds and biogas released in and around the municipal landfill. Sampling of the VOCs was carried out by the 1501NIOSH method from 8 points over 5 months. The samples were analyzed for BTEX in the ambient air of the landfill, resulting in 0.03–18.09 ppm concentrations, while for biogases a 0.08–25.2 ppm range was found. Assessment of definite health and potential risks showed that the lifetime cancer risk (LCR) for benzene and hazard quotient (HQ) for the BTEX components in all studied sampling sites are higher than the acceptable standard. The high concentration of benzene measured in ambient air indicated that petroleum compounds containing benzene and its derivatives have the highest value in the category of BTEX compounds among all emissions. Therefore, high concentrations of volatile compounds derived from VOCs, especially benzene, should be reduced at the site with control engineering measures.

Keywords: environmental pollution; volatile organic compounds; BTEX; biogas; health risk assessment; landfill waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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