Prediction of inhalation health risk of mercury emissions from stacks of cement plant employing coal as an alternative fuel

Abstract

Due to the Egyptian shortage of energy sources, especially for energy-intensive industries, the Egyptian President decree No 105-2015, and the Egyptian Prime Minister’s Decisions No. 964 - 2015, No 544-2017, and No 618-2017 setting standards for the exportation, using, handling, and storage of coal as an alternative fuel in mega industries within the Arab Republic of Egypt. Fossil fuels, with their different types, are materials that produce different amounts of air pollutants, especially coal, which, when burned, produces quantities of sulfur oxides, carbon oxides, and some heavy metals that have environmental and health effects in the short and long term alike. The objective of the present study is to identify the distance from each stack of approximately zero mercury concentration as compared to the distance of the external plant fences to ensure that the community air is free from mercury of the cement production source by using an air pollutants dispersion model. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey that was conducted in Cement Production plant in the Helwan area that use coal as an energy source. Stack sampling of both vapor and particulates' Hg was conducted according to the standard isokinetic method.