Air Pollution and human health hazards: a compilation of air toxins acknowledged by the gas industry in Queensland’s Darling Downs

McCarron, Geralyn

doi:10.1080/00207233.2017.1413221

Cited by 24 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…These exceedances imply that population exposure could increase the risk of morbidity. Volatile organic compounds are a group of air pollutants emitted from multiple sources of anthropogenic activities (e.g., power and gas stations and fossil fuel-based vehicles) with some species known or suspected to be carcinogenic and may affect the immune system, brain, liver, and kidneys [51][52][53].…”

Section: Gaseous Pollutant and Particle Concentrations: Levels And Public Health Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Quality in Nigerian Urban Environments: A Comprehensive Assessment of Gaseous Pollutants and Particle Concentrations

Ezeonyejiaku

Okoye

Ezeonyejiaku³

et al. 2021

Curr. Appl. Sci. Technol.

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The rise in gaseous pollutants and particulate concentrations is a serious problem for the environment. This study examined the air quality within four urban areas (Awka, Ekwulobia, Nnewi, and Onitsha) in Anambra State, Nigeria. The concentrations of known air pollutants including suspended particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), methane (CH4), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) were assessed at various locations within the study areas using Aeroqual air quality monitoring devices, and the results were compared with the WHO air quality guidelines for health impact assessment. The air quality index (AQI) was interpolated from the pollutant concentrations in order to show hazard categories of air quality conditions over the study locations. The mean concentrations of SO2, CH4, and VOCs within the residential locations of Awka, Ekwulobia, and Nnewi were in the range of 200-8000 µg m-3 and exceeded WHO limits for air quality. While the levels of CO2, SO2, and CH4 (3.25-1,027,000 µg m-3) within the commercial locations of Awka, Ekwulobia, and Nnewi exceeded WHO limits, only VOCs (500-1100 µg m-3) within Awka and Ekwulobia exceeded the limits. The 62-181 µg m-3 and 40-295 µg m-3 ranges of PM2.5 and PM10, respectively within the Nnewi and Ekwulobia commercial locations were the only particle concentrations at which the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended limits for health aspects of air pollution were exceeded. The AQI calculations showed air quality within some of the locations may have potential risks for public health.

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Section: Gaseous Pollutant and Particle Concentrations: Levels And Public Health Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Quality in Nigerian Urban Environments: A Comprehensive Assessment of Gaseous Pollutants and Particle Concentrations

Ezeonyejiaku

Okoye

Ezeonyejiaku³

et al. 2021

Curr. Appl. Sci. Technol.

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“…That is, before the reaction cycle, the surface-active centers (S) on the photocatalyst are initially in their inactive ground state unable to react with other molecules. However, once the solid photocatalyst has been electronically excited by absorption of photons with the appearance of free charge carriers, electrons (e − ) and holes (h + ), or excitons (e • ), this excitation energy may be localized on the surface-active centers to yield centers in their chemically active excited states (S + and S − ; Equation (8)), which can also form by interaction with the excitons (Equation (9)), or otherwise the photons may excite the surface-active sites directly to give S* (Equation (10)). The surface-active centers in their electronically activated excited state are then capable of initiating surface chemical reactions.…”

Section: Influence Of Catalysis On Photocatalysis-comparisons and Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nitric oxide (NO) spreads to all parts of the respiratory system because of its low solubility in water, while the health effects of NO 2 are related to its ability to dissolve in moisture to produce HNO 3 acid-a strong mineral acid. Some of the acute health effects include eye irritation (stinging and watering), throat irritation (pungent smell, stinging nose, and coughing), lung irritation (coughing, wheezing and tight chest-difficulty in breathing), and asthma triggered in asthmatics [9,10]. The most serious acute effects occur after significant exposure to NO 2 causing: (a) acute pulmonary edema-fluid from damaged lung tissue pours out into air spaces preventing air from getting to deeper lung thereby causing choking (asphyxia); and (b) other chronic health effects such as asthma and obliterative bronchiolitis, in which the smallest air passages (the bronchioles) are seriously scarred and become distorted and blocked.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterogeneous Photocatalysis and Prospects of TiO2-Based Photocatalytic DeNOxing the Atmospheric Environment

Serpone

2018

Catalysts

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This article reviews the efforts of the last two decades to deNOxify the atmospheric environment with TiO2-based photocatalytic materials supported on various cementitious-like substrates. Prior to undertaking this important aspect of applied photocatalysis with metal-oxide emiconductor photocatalysts, however, it is pertinent to describe and understand the fundamentals of Heterogeneous Photocatalysis. The many attempts done in a laboratory setting to degrade (deNOxify) the major components that make up the NOx, namely nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), but most importantly the efforts expended in deNOxifying the real environment upon depositing titania-based coatings on various model and authentic infrastructures, such as urban roads, highway noise barriers, tunnels, and building external walls among others, are examined. Both laboratory and outdoor experimentations have been performed toward NOx being oxidized to form nitrates (NO3−) that remain adsorbed on the TiO2-based photocatalytic surfaces (except in tunnels—indoor walls) but get subsequently dislodged by rain or by periodic washings of the infrastructures. However, no serious considerations have been given to the possible conversion of NOx via photocatalytic reduction back to N2 and O2 gases that would restore the atmospheric environment, as the adsorbed nitrates block the surface-active sites of the photocatalyst and when washed-off ultimately cause unduly damages to the environment.

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“…Developing research in Australia has identified several areas of concern with the impacts of the industry, these include: the nature, content and successional nature of CCAs (Christensen et al, 2012); public health impacts (Mactaggart, McDermott, Tynan, & Gericke, 2017;Werner, Vink, Watt, & Jagals, 2015); human health impacts (Haswell & Bethmont, 2016;McCarron, 2018); mental health (Morgan, Hine, Bhullar, Dunstan, & Bartik, 2016); environmental health, including water quality and air quality; lack of solutions for the toxic waste stream from the industry (LaBouchardiere, Goater, & Beeton, 2014); competition for water and land resources (Navi, Skelly, Taulis, & Nasiri, 2014;Taylor & Taylor, 2016); economic impacts on individuals and communities (Huth et al, 2018;Measham, Fleming, & Schandl, 2016) and regulatory and enforcement lag and inadequacy (Permanent Peoples' Tribunal 2018;Victoria Auditor General's Report, 2015;Hepburn, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Review and Conceptualisation Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace health and safety (WHS) implications for farmers hosting unconventional gas (UG) exploration & production

Dougall

2019

Policy and Practice in Health and Safety

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This research examines the proposal that in Queensland, Australia, the unconventional gas (UG) industry, in accessing landholders' property, does not solely enter the private land of host farmers, but also the host farmers' workplace. Thus this industrial activity poses an exacerbation of existing workplace health and safety hazards for host farmers, and introduces new ones. The research identifies there is a clear duty on the UG Companies for the WHS impacts of their undertakings on the host farmer and explores the evidence that shows risk identification and management in relation to host farmers is not in practice routinely considered by the industry or the administering agencies. The report also suggests pathways for further research in order to explore and support host farmers in protecting their livelihoods and families from presently unidentified exposure and contribute to the minimization and prevention of future injuries, disease and fatalities for the host farmers.

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Air Pollution and human health hazards: a compilation of air toxins acknowledged by the gas industry in Queensland’s Darling Downs

Cited by 24 publications

References 23 publications

Air Quality in Nigerian Urban Environments: A Comprehensive Assessment of Gaseous Pollutants and Particle Concentrations

Air Quality in Nigerian Urban Environments: A Comprehensive Assessment of Gaseous Pollutants and Particle Concentrations

Heterogeneous Photocatalysis and Prospects of TiO2-Based Photocatalytic DeNOxing the Atmospheric Environment

Workplace health and safety (WHS) implications for farmers hosting unconventional gas (UG) exploration & production

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