A Study of the Inhalation Exposure Risk of Pollutants in Flue Gas from Solid Waste Incineration Power Plants in the Pearl River Delta

Three municipal solid waste incineration power plants (MSWIPPs) in the Pearl River Delta were selected as the research objects, the atmospheric diffusion model AERMOD was used to simulate the diffusion of characteristic pollutants in the flue gas, and the air pollution around the three MSWIPPs was investigated. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's health risk assessment method was used to assess the pollutants' health risks to humans. The results showed that the average annual emission concentrations of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, HCl, NO_x, SO₂, Pb, Cd, Cr and PCDD/Fs (Dioxin) in the three MSWIPPs ranged between 1.98×10^-9~93.87 mg/m³, and prediction of average full-time concentration ranged between 5.00×10^-14~1.49×10^-3 mg/m³, which was far below the limit values of the evaluation standard. The inhalation exposure health risk assessment showed that HCl, NO_x, SO₂ and Pb for the non-carcinogenic risks were 2.71×10^-7~1.38×10^-2, and Cd, Cr and PCDD/Fs for the carcinogenic risk were 7.12×10^-10~2.04×10^-5, which were within the acceptable ranges. The health risks of all characteristic pollutants in flue gas were generally higher for male than for female for the adult population, whilst the opposite results were found for children. Additionally, the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks for children were significantly higher than those for adults. There are primary schools and kindergartens in the downwind direction of these three MSWIPPs, and corresponding protective measures are suggested according to the characteristics of crowd distribution, change of wind direction and seasonal alternation in spring and summer to ensure the environmental air quality and the health of sensitive population around the projects to the maximum extent.