Risks of Toxic Trace Elements’ Inhalation Influence in Vicinity of Local Boilers

Abstract

The aim of this paper is revelation of risks caused by inhalation of toxic elements, containing in emissions of boilers using different types of fuels (coal, oil, gas, woods), and the pollutants priority identification. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks factors have been calculated through calculated data on trace elements concentrations in the air, based on established experimentally their content in the snow cover’s solid phase. According to the total value of the inhalation impact’s danger factor the studied territories can be ranked in the following range of boilers: coal > woods >gas ≥ oil ones. The impact of these activities can be appraised as permissible and acceptable. Contributions of heavy metals into risk characteristics have been ranked. Elements Mn, Cu, Ba, Al make the major contribution to the hazard coefficient and are among the elements-indicators for ash emissions of coal boilers. For all elements with carcinogenic properties (Cr (VI), Cd, As, Be, Ni, Co, Pb) the values of individual carcinogenic risk are below 10–5 for environs of all considered boilers. Such values correspond to the negligible risk level. From a practical standpoint, the heavy metals’ emissions differentiation both by nature and content, when using different types of fuel, affects the health risk indicators and can be informative when choosing a fuel for boilers of individual housing construction.