Integrated Methodology for the Management of Human Exposure to Air Pollutants

Abstract

The assessment of the impacts of future civil/industrial plants on air quality is traditionally based on the environmental assessment procedure, which, however, may lead to different conclusions depending on the choice of the target area and the emission sources already present, and may underestimate the global impacts on health, society and economy. The paper proposes an organic multi-step methodology to carry out health risk assessments on a target area, to assess the incidence of emissive activities under evaluation for authorisation, and, as an additional matter of novelty, to study mitigation/compensation measures to take their future impacts back to acceptable levels, if their contributions are expected to exceed acceptable risk parameters. Criteria for the definition of target areas, emission calculation, dispersion modelling, the health risk assessment procedure, the verification of the risk acceptability and the compensation approach are described in detail. The current potential limitations of the approach are discussed and solutions to overcome such weak points are proposed. In view of a sustainable integration of new activities within local contexts, this methodology aims at guiding decision makers to carry out the screening of projects in terms of health impacts, according to a standardised approach.

MSW Management in Two Italian Mountainous Areas

“…Concerning incineration in the first case scenario, the delay in the decision provided extended time for scientific studies within territorial universities and research bodies. The related studies [30], [31] demonstrate that a modern combustion plant based on Best Available Techniques, built in a strategically selected site, designed to the local needs, can have a negligible impact also thanks to the possibility of decreasing the authorised values of the pollutants emitted at the stack compared to the regulatory ones.…”

Understanding Tourist Behavioural Intention When Faced with Smog Pollution: Focus on International Tourists to Beijing

“…Moreover, it is particularly important for the Chinese government to continue to improve air quality so as to reduce the impact of potential risks caused by smog on tourists’ destination choice. Building environmentally friendly facilities, such as charging facilities for new energy vehicles, can be a good idea to reduce air pollution while increasing green belt or city greenery that could absorb toxic air and concurrently create distinctive and beautiful views in the city [ 4 ]. It may also be beneficial to provide sufficient safe and health-related guarantees to the source markets, such as installing large air purifiers (towers) in polluted cities or regions and introducing smart road clean systems and bus shelter clean systems, such as installing LED screens which display daily air quality, to assure tourists of the city air quality during their stay, which may establish a positive reputation and increase the tourist revisitation rate.…”

“…It is also important as a reference index for destination sustainability, as the environment plays a prime consideration in an individual’s decision to travel [ 1 , 2 ]. Smog pollution is a prominent influence on human activity and behaviour because of its higher visibility and severity compared to other types of environmental pollution, such as water pollution, improper waste management, and soil pollution [ 3 , 4 ]. For some developing countries, the deteriorating air quality has become the main reason for the decreasing number of tourist arrivals and tourism revenue, adversely affecting the economies of these countries [ 5 ].…”

Importance of Comprehensive Health Risk Assessment Procedures for Modern Waste-Toenergy Facilities in Complex Geographical Contexts Oriented to Circular Economy

“…The impacts on human health of the pollutants emitted from civil and industrial activities are estimated through the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, which was developed and implemented in the United States in 1970 with the National Environmental Policy Act [25]. The assessment of the risk for health, as part of the EIA process, requires caution, because the results may be influenced by the choices and hypotheses made to simplify the evaluation, such as the selection of the target area, the emission sources to consider, the exposure routes, the morphologic and meteorological data, the resolution of the computational domain for meteorological and dispersion simulations [26]. Thus, the development of correct health risk assessment procedures becomes crucial to avoid misleading results, potential underestimations of the impacts of human activities on health and unnecessary precautionary approaches that may lead to socio-economic damages to local communities.…”