| Title: | "Real-time emission characteristics, health risks, and olfactory effects of VOCs released from soil disturbance during the remediation of an abandoned chemical pesticide industrial site" |
| Author(s): | Wang H; Yan Z; Zhang Z; Jiang K; Yu J; Yang Y; Yang B; Shu J; Yu Z; Wei Z; |
| Address: | "National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Material & Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, People's Republic of China. China State Science Dingshi Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd, Beijing, 100102, People's Republic of China. National Engineering Laboratory for VOCs Pollution Control Material & Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, People's Republic of China. boyang@ucas.ac.cn" |
| Journal Title: | Environ Sci Pollut Res Int |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11356-023-28942-7 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1614-7499 (Electronic) 0944-1344 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released along with soil disturbance during the remediation of abandoned industrial sites have attracted great attention due to their possible toxicity and odour. However, the real-time emission characteristics of these VOCs and their subsequent effects on health and olfaction are less understood. In this study, the gaseous VOCs released from soil disturbance by excavators and drilling rigs at an abandoned chemical pesticide plant were monitored online with a laboratory-built single photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (SPI-TOFMS). Twelve main VOCs with total mean concentrations ranging from 2350 to 3410 mug m(-3) were observed, with dichloromethane (DCM) having a significant contribution. The total concentrations of the remaining 11 VOCs increased substantially during soil disturbance, with the total mean concentrations increasing from 18.65-39.05 to 37.95-297.94 mug m(-3) and those of peak concentrations increasing from 28.46-58.97 to 88.38-839.13 mug m(-3). This increase in VOC concentrations during soil disturbance leads to an enhanced heath risk for on-site workers. The distinctive difference between the mean and peak concentrations of VOCs indicates the importance of using mean and peak concentrations, respectively, for risk and olfactory evaluation due to the rapid response of the human nose to odours. As a result, the cumulative noncarcinogenic risk at the relatively high pollutant plot was higher than the occupational safety limit, while the total carcinogenic risks at all monitored scenarios exceeded the acceptable limit. Among the VOCs investigated, DCM and trichloroethylene (TCE) were determined to be crucial pollutants for both noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of VOCs. With regard to olfactory effects, organic sulphides, including dimethyl disulphide (DMDS), dimethyl sulphide (DMS), and dimethyl trisulphide (DMTS) were identified as dominant odour contributors (78.28-92.11%) during soil disturbance" |
| Keywords: | Humans *Air Pollutants/analysis Soil *Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis Environmental Monitoring Smell *Pesticides Risk Assessment China Contaminated site remediation Health risk Mass spectrometer Olfactory effect VOCs; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWang, Haijie Yan, Zitao Zhang, Zuojian Jiang, Kui Yu, Jin Yang, Yong Yang, Bo Shu, Jinian Yu, Zhangqi Wei, Zhiyang eng 2019YFC1806101/National Key Research and Development Program of China/ 22076184/National Natural Science Foundation of China/ YJKYYQ20180072/Research Equipment Development Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences/ Germany 2023/07/30 Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Sep; 30(41):93617-93628. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-28942-7. Epub 2023 Jul 29" |
