{"title":"Evaluation of radiological health risk caused by the use of fly ash in cement and concrete production and its storage.","authors":"Şeref Turhan, Yusof-den Jamasali","doi":"10.1080/09603123.2023.2301051","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As a result of firing pulverized coal in thermal power plants, enormous amounts of fly ash (FA) are produced as industrial waste. The release into the atmosphere and storage of this industrial waste remains one of the major environmental problems that threaten human health by contributing to air, water, and soil pollution. The recovery and reuse of FA in the construction industry is the only economic solution to the existing problem. In this study, the potential radiological risk caused by the usage of FA in concrete and cement production as a main component and its storage in landfill sites was evaluated for people and works by estimating radiological parameters (activity concentration and alpha index, annual effective doses, and the corresponding excess lifetime cancer risks) based on activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA. Also, the radiological risk to the workers working in the FA landfill site was evaluated using the Residual Radioactivity Onsite 7.2 code. The average activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA samples from the Tunçbilek lignite coal-fired thermal power plant at Kütahya province of Turkey were measured as 417, 156 and 454 Bq kg<sup>-1</sup> for <sup>226</sup>Ra, <sup>232</sup>Th and <sup>40</sup>K, respectively. When using up to 35% by mass of FA in cement and concrete, the average values of the radiological parameters revealed that they were within the recommended safety limits. However, code estimations showed that a regular worker in FA storage would be exposed to a total effective dose rate greater than 3 mSv y<sup>-1</sup>.</p>","PeriodicalId":14039,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Environmental Health Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Environmental Health Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2023.2301051","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/3 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As a result of firing pulverized coal in thermal power plants, enormous amounts of fly ash (FA) are produced as industrial waste. The release into the atmosphere and storage of this industrial waste remains one of the major environmental problems that threaten human health by contributing to air, water, and soil pollution. The recovery and reuse of FA in the construction industry is the only economic solution to the existing problem. In this study, the potential radiological risk caused by the usage of FA in concrete and cement production as a main component and its storage in landfill sites was evaluated for people and works by estimating radiological parameters (activity concentration and alpha index, annual effective doses, and the corresponding excess lifetime cancer risks) based on activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA. Also, the radiological risk to the workers working in the FA landfill site was evaluated using the Residual Radioactivity Onsite 7.2 code. The average activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA samples from the Tunçbilek lignite coal-fired thermal power plant at Kütahya province of Turkey were measured as 417, 156 and 454 Bq kg-1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. When using up to 35% by mass of FA in cement and concrete, the average values of the radiological parameters revealed that they were within the recommended safety limits. However, code estimations showed that a regular worker in FA storage would be exposed to a total effective dose rate greater than 3 mSv y-1.
火力发电厂在燃烧煤粉时会产生大量粉煤灰(FA)作为工业废物。向大气排放和储存这些工业废物仍然是主要的环境问题之一,会造成空气、水和土壤污染,威胁人类健康。在建筑业中回收和再利用 FA 是解决现有问题的唯一经济办法。在本研究中,通过根据 FA 中陆地放射性核素的活度浓度估算放射性参数(活度浓度和阿尔法指数、年有效剂量以及相应的终生超额癌症风险),评估了在混凝土和水泥生产中使用 FA 作为主要成分及其在垃圾填埋场中的储存对人类和工程造成的潜在放射性风险。此外,还使用现场残余放射性 7.2 代码对在 FA 垃圾填埋场工作的工人所面临的辐射风险进行了评估。在土耳其库塔希亚省的通奇比莱克褐煤火力发电厂的 FA 样品中,测得 226Ra、232Th 和 40K 的陆地放射性核素平均活度浓度分别为 417、156 和 454 Bq kg-1。当在水泥和混凝土中使用高达 35% 质量的 FA 时,放射性参数的平均值显示它们在建议的安全限值范围内。然而,规范估算显示,一名普通的 FA 储存工人受到的总有效剂量率将超过 3 mSv y-1。
期刊介绍:
International Journal of Environmental Health Research ( IJEHR ) is devoted to the rapid publication of research in environmental health, acting as a link between the diverse research communities and practitioners in environmental health. Published articles encompass original research papers, technical notes and review articles. IJEHR publishes articles on all aspects of the interaction between the environment and human health. This interaction can broadly be divided into three areas: the natural environment and health – health implications and monitoring of air, water and soil pollutants and pollution and health improvements and air, water and soil quality standards; the built environment and health – occupational health and safety, exposure limits, monitoring and control of pollutants in the workplace, and standards of health; and communicable diseases – disease spread, control and prevention, food hygiene and control, and health aspects of rodents and insects. IJEHR is published in association with the International Federation of Environmental Health and includes news from the Federation of international meetings, courses and environmental health issues.