Particulate Matter from Stone Crushing Industry: Size Distribution and Health Effects
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 3
Abstract
A cluster of 50 stone crushing units located at Pammal, in suburban Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu State, India, is a source of high levels of dust generation in the vicinity of the crushers and in the communities surrounding them. Ambient air quality network consisting of 26 sampling locations were operated to continuously monitor the total and respirable particulate matter concentrations (TSP and ). The daily average ambient concentrations of TSP and varied from 342 to 2,470 and 90 to , respectively, near the source, while the average concentrations varied from 86 to 257 and 39 to in ambient air. The average concentration varied from 41 to at the source, whereas the concentration varied from 17 to in ambient air. Personal samplers were also employed to quantify the TSP and RPM in the work environment and they varied from 22.5 to 80.5 and 13.5 to , respectively. Both ambient concentrations and occupational exposure levels exceeded the Indian National Standards at most of the locations. Pulmonary function tests performed on workers showed that the average values of pulmonary function in these workers are significantly lower than the average values reported for normal South Indian healthy males.
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Acknowledgments
The writers are grateful to the Director, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, India, and the Vice-Chancellor of Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Porur, Chennai, India, for the facilities made available for this work. They are also grateful to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board for sponsoring the project.
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© 2006 ASCE.
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Received: Mar 26, 2004
Accepted: Aug 5, 2005
Published online: Mar 1, 2006
Published in print: Mar 2006
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