Air Pollution Associated with Total Suspended Particulate and Particulate Matter in Cement Grinding Plant in Vietnam

Abstract

Air pollution associated with suspended particles has become a significant concern in Vietnam recently. The study aimed to (1) investigate dust sources; (2) measure concentration levels of Total Suspended Particulate (TSP), Particulate Matter (PM) fractions; (3) identify silica levels and the correlation with respirable particles at a cement grinding plant in Vietnam. A total of 312 samples (52 TSP, 160 PMs) at 13 processes were measured using the direct-reading dust meter. The silica composition was analyzed in a certified laboratory using the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique. SPSS version 26 for Window was used to analyze the data. The operations of the cement grinding plant created multiple dust sources from the jetty to the cement dispatch process. The TSP levels ranged 0.06–38.24 mg m−3, and 40.38 % (n = 21) TSP samples exceeded the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for an 8-h working shift. Besides that, there was a wide range and significant concentration levels of PMs in the cement processes. The levels of PMs were PM1 (0.00–0.06 mg m−3), PM2.5 (0.01–0.83 mg m−3), PM4 (0.02–4.59 mg m−3), PM7 (0.03–16.94 mg m−3), and PM10 (0.04–26.85 mg m−3). The highest mean levels of PMs factions were measured at the pre-grinding process. The inefficient operation of the dust collector contributed a significant factor to the dust dispersion in this process. The silica’s mean (SD) composition in respirable dust was 20.4 % (0.86) and was not significantly different amongst the processes. There was a significant correlation between the levels of respirable dust and silica exposure in the cement grinding plant (r = 0.99). The improvement of indoor air quality is needed to prevent health effects on cement workers.

Occupational exposure to silicon dioxide and prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms in the cement manufacturing industries: A review

“…Similar high exposure events were noted in a study by Mirzaee et al, 29 where cement dust concentration was 4.5 mg/m 3 near the packing machine, 4.2 mg/m 3 during loading, 23 mg/m 3 for crushing, and 43–47.6 mg/m 3 in a raw mill. Thai et al, 30 suggest that the concentration levels of respirable cement dust concentration fluctuate significantly in different sections of the cement manufacturing industries, and such is dependent on the availability and levels of control mechanisms. A study by Couture et al, 31 in construction industry, showed high exposure levels of silica dust among crusher operators (0.08 mg/m 3 ) and concrete truck operators (0.01 mg/m 3 ), exceeding occupational exposure limits by more than 30 threshold.…”

Estimation of Particulate Matter Less Than 10 Microns Volume Through Various Formats of Spatial Interpolation Methods

“…Air pollution is classified as another important problem of Thailand and this problem is currently more serious increasingly (Junpen et al, 2018). There are 2 major causes of air pollution including: human actions, for example, demands on energy for consuming in households, industries, and agriculture as well as air pollution caused by cars, ships, and planes that causes CO2, NO2, and hydrocarbons giving bad effects to human's health directly (Canha et al, 2021;Thai et al, 2021). Combustion of these types of fuel also increase the problems on air pollution every year; natural actions, for example, volcanic eruption causing high amount of dust and ash blowing in the air (Perera, 2018;Mperejekumana et al, 2021), wildfire causing smoke that is dangerous for respiratory system, decomposition of humus and carcass that may cause CO2, CH4, and NH3 in case of chemical reaction (Ray et al, 2019;Junpen et al, 2020); and dust caused by broken objects that would be distributed in the air when they are blown by the wind.…”