Occupational hygiene in terms of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and bioaerosols at two solid waste management plants in Finland (2023)

Table of Contents
Waste Management Abstract Highlights Introduction Section snippets Plant descriptions Results and discussion Conclusions Acknowledgements References (56) Characterization of ambient volatile organic compounds at a landfill site in Guangzhou, South China Chemosphere Volatile organic compounds from household waste Chemosphere Methods for gas chromatography–olfactometry: a review Biomolecular Engineering Occupational hygiene in a Finnish drum composting plant Waste Management A study of volatile organic compounds evolved in urban waste disposal bins Atmospheric Environment Evaluating the human response to chemicals: odor, irritation and non-sensory factors Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology Odours and volatile organic compounds emitted from municipal solid waste at different stage of decomposition and relationship with biological stability Bioresource Technology Sorting and recycling of domestic waste. Review of occupational health problems and their possible causes The Science of Total Environment Application of gas-chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O) in analysis and quality assessment of alcoholic beverages – a review Food Chemistry Volatile organic compounds produced during the aerobic biological processing of municipal solid waste in a pilot plant Chemosphere Critical working tasks and determinants of exposure to bioaerosols and MVOC ant composting facilities International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health A review of the control of odour nuisance from livestock buildings: Part 3, properties of the odorous substances which have been identified in livestock wastes or in the air around them Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Research Subjective reactions to volatile organic compounds as air pollutants Atmospheric Environment Emission of volatile organic compounds during composting of municipal solid wastes Water Research Improvements of the quantification of airborne micro-organisms in the farm environment by epifluoresence microscopy Annals of Occupational Hygiene A review of waste management practices and their impact on human health Waste management Characterization and determination of the odorous charge in the indoor air of a waste treatment facility through the evaluation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using TD-GC/MS Waste Management Gas chromatography olfactometry (GC/O) of dairy product International Dairy Journal Species-spesific production of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) by air-borne fungi from a compost facility Chemosphere Domestic waste composting facilities: a review of human health risks Environment International Characterization of odorants emissions from landfills by SPME and GC/MS Chemosphere Characterisation of VOCs emitted by open cells receiving municipal solid waste Journal of Hazardous Materials PTR-MS monitoring of odour emissions from composting plants International Journal of Mass Spectrometry Odour annoyance and physical symptoms among residents living near waste treatment centres Environmental Research New sampler for the collection, sizing and enumeration of viable airborne particles Journal of Bacteriology Effect of initial oxygen concentration on diacetyl and acetoin production by Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis Applied Environmental Microbiology Odour detection methods: olfactory and chemical sensors Sensors Health complaints and immunological markers of exposure to bioaerosols among biowaste collectors and compost workers Occupational and Environmental Medicine Cited by (49) Microbial contamination in waste collection: Unveiling this Portuguese occupational exposure scenario Spatial and temporal variation of endotoxin concentrations at composting facilities in one of the largest solid waste management facilities in the Middle East Bioaerosol Exposure and in vitro Activation of Toll-like Receptors in a Norwegian Waste Sorting Plant Health symptoms and inflammatory blood biomarkers from exposure of recyclable waste workers to particulate matter and bioaerosols Microbiological and toxicological hazard assessment in a waste sorting plant and proper respiratory protection One-year follow-up of microbial diversity in bioaerosols emitted in a waste sorting plant in France Recommended articles (6) A contribution to the analysis of equity associated with high-level radioactive waste management Composition profiles and health risk of PCDD/F in outdoor air and fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration and adjacent villages in East China Cytogenetic analysis (buccal micronucleus cytome assay) of radioactive waste management workers Dioxin distribution characteristics and health risk assessment in different size particles of fly ash from MSWIs in China Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals The disposal of fluorescent lamps of industries of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte - MG

Waste Management

Volume 33, Issue 4,

April 2013

, Pages 964-973

Author links open overlay panel, , , ,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2012.11.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Factors affecting occupational hygiene were measured at the solid waste transferring plant at Hyvinkää and at the optic separation plant in Hämeenlinna. Measurements consisted of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and bioaerosols including microbes, dust and endotoxins.

The most abundant compounds in both of the plants were aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, esters of carboxylic acids, ketones and terpenes. In terms of odour generation, the most important emissions were acetic acid, 2,3-butanedione, ethyl acetate, alpha-pinene and limonene due to their low threshold odour concentrations. At the optic waste separation plant, limonene occurred at the highest concentration of all single compounds of identified VOCs. The concentration of any single volatile organic compound did not exceed the occupational exposure limit (OEL) concentration. However, 2,3-butanedione as a health risk compound is discussed based on recent scientific findings linking it to lung disease.

Microbe and dust concentrations were low at the waste transferring plant. Only endotoxin concentrations may cause health problems; the average concentration inside the plant was 425EU/m3 which clearly exceeded the threshold value of 90EU/m3. In the wheel loader cabin the endotoxin concentrations were below 1EU/m3. High microbial and endotoxin concentrations were measured in the processing hall at the optic waste separation plant. The average concentration of endotoxins was found to be 10,980EU/m3, a concentration which may cause health risks. Concentrations of viable fungi were quite high in few measurements in the control room. The most problematic factor was endotoxins whose average measured concentrations was 4853EU/m3.

Highlights

► Odorous VOCs: acetic acid, 2,3-butanedione, ethyl acetate, alpha-pinene and limonene. ► VOC concentrations did not exceed occupational exposure limit concentrations. ► 2,3-Butanedione as the health effecting compound is discussed. ► Endotoxin concentrations may cause health problems in waste treatment.

Introduction

In Finland the separation and recycling of paper and board products, and later hazardous waste, metal and glass, have long traditions. Furthermore, in the late 1990s Finland adopted the source separation of kitchen biowaste as its main household waste treatment method. It requires that all food wastes are sorted to a separate bin. The bin is then collected centrally and its contents mainly composted. The remaining household waste fraction is labelled dry waste. After additional treatment at waste treatment plants the dry waste produces a rather pure fuel (recycled energy fuel, or REF) for incineration.

Handling and management of dry waste and biowaste offer a potential emission route for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and bioaerosols emitted from waste material as metabolic products of microbial activity during the aerobic or anaerobic decomposition processes. Some of these compounds and bioaerosols may present a health hazard especially for employees (Domingo and Nadal, 2009). The impact of waste management on the environment and employees is nowadays recognised as a growing environmental and public health-related concern (Giusti, 2009). In the last decade and especially in recent years the interest in occupational health issues and odours in waste management has grown in Europe because of the rapid adoption of mechanical–biological treatment (Biasioli et al., 2004). Several studies concerning VOCs, as a source of odour, and bioaerosols emissions from landfills and composting as the health-affecting factors have been conducted all over Europe (Pierucci et al., 2005, Chiriac et al., 2007, Persoons et al., 2010, Scaglia et al., 2011, Vilavert et al., 2012) and in Asia (Zou et al., 2003, Majumdar and Srivastava, 2012).

Most Finnish waste treatment plants use state-of-the-art technology because it offers a more effective way to treat waste and the emissions to the environment are limited (Tolvanen et al., 1998). However, concentrations of bioaerosols and volatile and odorous organic compounds in the working air are most likely much higher in closed treatment plants than in open systems. Processes are generally automated but during maintenance procedures employees may have to work in waste processing areas where there is an elevated risk of exposure to VOCs and bioaerosols. In previous studies mixed waste, including dry waste with residual biowaste, energy waste and wood resulted in high concentrations of fungi in the ambient air (Tolvanen, 2004, Persoons et al., 2010, Vilavert et al., 2012; Kiviranta et al., 1999). Based on this research (Tolvanen, 2004, Tolvanen et al., 2005) there is a strong possibility of occupational exposure to microbes, VOCs and unacceptable odour when biowaste is handled along with other waste fractions.

Bioaerosols cause health effects especially in the upper airways (Bunger et al., 2002, Heldal et al., 2003). Other health effects are allergies and asthma and different kinds of symptoms from exposure like fever, muscle ache, headache and irritation of the eyes (Poulsen et al., 1995). Endotoxin inhalation especially may cause dry cough and shortness of breath accompanied by decreased lung function, fever reactions and malaise, and sometimes dyspnoea, headache and joint aches occurring within a few hours of exposure. Chronic endotoxin exposure may lead to chronic bronchitis and reduced lung function. (Nordic Expert Group for Criteria Documentation of Health Risks, 2011). In addition, high concentrations of VOCs and bioaerosols are known to be harmful to human health and synergetic effects and their relevance in working environments is still insufficiently studied (Fischer and Dott, 2003). In high concentrations VOCs are known to cause direct reactions like sensory irritation on mucosa of the eyes, nose and throat and some non-specific symptoms like headache (Mølhave et al., 1991, Smeets and Dalton, 2005). Some studies show that moderately large concentrations of several VOCs may cause symptoms like headache, eye and skin irritation (Mølhave et al., 1991). There are still contradictory findings regarding whether moderately low concentrations of VOCs affect human health and this subject has been studied in indoor air and occupational health exposure cases. Furthermore, several non-sensory factors like mental models, bias, psychosocial factors and personality variables that influence odour and irritation perception are important to take into account (Shusterman et al., 1991, Smeets and Dalton, 2005).

Moreover, odour, caused by several VOCs, is a general problem at many waste management plants, and is a key factor when it comes to employee satisfaction or local perception in residential areas in the vicinity of waste management plants (Aatamila et al., 2011). Odour problems are more likely to occur if residual biowaste are present in the waste management process. It is common that odours and irritating odour-causing VOCs may elicit physical effects and concern about them even if their concentrations are below those where toxicity may be expected (Smeets and Dalton, 2005). Symptoms in these cases include feelings of memory loss, confusion and weakness, difficulty in making decisions and joint pain.

The limitations of traditional instrumental techniques have led to odour measurement procedures that rely on the use of the human nose as a detector (Brattoli et al., 2011). The most sensitive and broad range odour detector is undoubtedly the mammalian olfactory system that has developed through millions of years of biological evolution. In the case of foul odours, the human olfactory has remained comparable to most of the other mammals. Therefore, in odour determination, the combined GC–MS–olfaction (GC–MS–O) or GC–MS–Sniff technique has been also introduced in recent years, especially in food and aroma chemistry research (Plutowska and Wardencki, 2008) but also in environmental research (Zarra et al., 2009, Lehtinen and Veijanen, 2011). GC–MS–O allows a deeper understanding about odour composition and about the odour characteristics of individual compounds (Veijanen, 1990, Friedrich and Acree, 1998, Van Ruth, 2001, Lo et al., 2008).

The aim of this study was to determine VOCs, odour causing compounds and bioaerosols in problematic working areas at the two plants in question to estimate the level of exposure for employees. In this study the concentrations of VOCs and bioaerosols are compared to the occupational exposure limits set by The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (USA) and Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety (DECOS). These values can be used as a guideline in assessing the risk of occupational exposure to particular compounds. However, these guidelines cover an 8-h period of exposure. Therefore, the presumption of occupational exposure is set to consider a entire 8-h workday. Additionally, it is assumed that employees work in the worst areas (areas of highest exposure). It is also assumed that the measured VOC concentration in the process halls and process sites remains the same for the whole workday. In this way a comparison of results to the 8-h OEL values is the most straightforward. However, this represents a worse-case situation and normally conditions for employees are better. Therefore these ambient measurements cannot be directly compared to individual sampling and the OEL values are used as suggestive risk indicators.

Section snippets

Plant descriptions

The two municipal solid waste treatment (MSW) plants studied here are the optic sorting plant in Hämeenlinna and the waste transferring plant in Hyvinkää. At the time of the study, energy waste was sorted at homes to white plastic bags, and the rest of the waste (mainly kitchen biowaste) to black plastic bags in the cities of Hämeenlinna and Hyvinkää. The biowaste fraction and the non-energy waste fraction bags had to be separated from the energy waste bags. This was performed at the

Results and discussion

The concentrations of the most abundant and/or odorous volatile organic compounds at the Hämeenlinna plant process hall and in control room as well as in the Hyvinkää waste receiving hall are presented in Table 2.

Conclusions

This study focused on examining the bioaerosols and VOCs in municipal solid waste plants and thereby assessing the possible health risks through exposure to them. An objective was also to determine the most odorous compounds these plants.

The most abundant compounds in both of the plants were aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, esters of carboxylic acids, ketones and terpenes. In terms of odour generation, the most important emissions were acetic acid, 2,3-butanedione, ethyl acetate,

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund. The authors would like to thank the employees at the studied plants for their co-operation and assistance during the measurements.

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    See Also
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      The present study showed that the dust samples contained potentially health-impairing endotoxin, fungi, and actinobacterial levels. Furthermore, the sampled dust contained microbial components capable of inducing TLR activationand thus have the potential to evoke an inflammatory response in exposed individuals.

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      During the process of treating and recycling Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators (MSWIs) fly ash, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (dl-PCBs) in fly ash may potentially mobilize in the atmosphere and be widely distributed in the environment because of the inevitable re-suspension. Thus, this work presents the distributions of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in inhalable coarse particles (Dp10–2.5 (particle diameter in μm)), fine particles (Dp<2.5) of fly ash and original fly ash from four MSWI plants in China. The results show that PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs preferentially concentrated in Dp10–2.5 and Dp<2.5. Their mass concentrations and TEQ were significantly higher than those in the original fly ash, but the distribution of PCDD/Fs congeners in Dp10–2.5 and Dp<2.5 was close to that in the original fly ash. The main TEQ contribution included 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD, 2,3,7,8-TeCDD in PCDDs and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF in PCDFs for Dp10–2.5, Dp<2.5 fractions and the original fly ash. Furthermore, the mass and TEQ contribution of dl-PCBs was relatively low. In addition, compared with the fluidized bed, the samples from the grate-type furnaces had significantly lower dioxin concentrations. In terms of potential health risk, the non-carcinogenic risk of PCDD/Fs in Dp10–2.5 and Dp<2.5 were estimated at 9.87×10−1 to 4.81 and 1.19–7.95. For the carcinogenic risk of PCDD/Fs, both accumulation of Hazard Quotients (HQ) in Dp10–2.5 and Dp<2.5 exceeded the threshold limit and should be considered as unacceptable risk for onsite workers. The above findings could provide data to support the risk management of MSWI fly ash during the process of recycle and disposal.

    • Research article

      Life in a landfill slum, children's health, and the Millennium Development Goals

      Science of The Total Environment, Volume 536, 2015, pp. 408-418

      People living in slums can be considered left behind with regard to national successes in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the living and working conditions of waste pickers and their children in a landfill slum located in the largest city in eastern Indonesia. A total of 113 people from the landfill slum and 1184 people from the general population participated in face-to-face interviews. Municipal solid waste (MSW) was analyzed for metals, metalloids and fecal indicator bacteria. Ambient air quality including particulate matter was measured in the landfill. Households in the landfill slum were 5.73 (p=0.04) times more likely to be below the international poverty line (MDG 1: Poverty) and 15.6 times (p<0.01) more likely to have no one in the household possessing a primary education (MDG 2: Universal Education), and 107 times (p<0.01) more likely not to have improved sanitation facilities (MDG 7: Environmental Sustainability) when compared to the general population. Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children under five in Indonesia. Young children living in the landfill slum were 2.87 times (p=0.02) more likely to develop diarrhea than their general population counterparts. Other survey results and environmental measurements suggest that landfill slum children have additional adverse health effects (e.g. infections and poisoning). Poverty underlies several MDG issues that directly or indirectly affect child health. Therefore, eradicating extreme poverty will continue to be the most critical challenge for the MDGs beyond 2015.

    • Research article

      The disposal of fluorescent lamps of industries of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte - MG

      Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 233, 2019, pp. 1486-1493

      The irregular disposal of fluorescent lamps can cause environmental problems and harms human health. This work has the purpose of analyzing the process of discarding fluorescent lamps of the user industries, located in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, in the State of Minas Gerais. The study was carried out in a quantitative and qualitative approach, with a semi-structured interview applied to the manager of the Special Residues Management of the State Environmental Foundation (FEMA), the head of the Office of the Municipal Secretary of Environment of the City Hall of Belo Horizonte and the director of the decontamination lamps company. It was applied a structured interview, with a questionnaire structured and applied to a random sample of 370 companies from the industrial sector consumers of fluorescent lamps. The results showed that the common waste is still the predominant disposal option, many respondents are not aware of the environmental legislation, and the industries also pointed out that there are many difficulties to implement reverse logistics mainly due to the absence of public power programs for the correct disposal. Therefore, there is a lack of government support and companies' initiative to comply with the legislation, which is bad considering it is a hazardous waste.

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