Lin Yuan-Chung, Lee Wen-Jhy, Chen Shui-Jen, Chang-Chien Guo-Ping, Tsai Perng-Jy
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Cheng Shiu University, 840 Chengching Road, Kaohsiung County 833, Taiwan.
J Hazard Mater. 2008 Oct 30;158(2-3):636-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.02.006. Epub 2008 Feb 12.
This study first measured concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in four selected workplace atmospheres, including the raw materials inlet, sintering grate, rough roll shredder and control room, and the outdoor environment of a sinter plant. Then, PAHs exposures and their resultant health-risks were assessed for sintering workers. We found that total PAH concentrations of the three selected sintering process areas were higher than that of the control room. The above results could be explained by the filtration effect of the air conditioning device installed inside the control room. PAH homologue distributions of the three selected sintering process areas were significantly different from that of the outdoor environment suggesting that PAHs found in the sintering workplace atmospheres were mainly contributed by process fugitives. Total PAH exposure levels were lower than the current permissible exposure limits, thus revealing that sintering workers are not a high risk group for long-term effects attributable to PAHs. Moreover, the lung cancer risks associated with the above PAH exposures were lower than the significant risk level defined by US Supreme Court further confirming that their exposures could be acceptable at this stage.
本研究首先测量了四个选定工作场所大气中的多环芳烃（PAHs）浓度，包括烧结厂的原料入口、烧结篦、粗轧破碎机和控制室以及室外环境。然后，对烧结工人的PAHs暴露及其产生的健康风险进行了评估。我们发现，三个选定烧结工艺区域的总PAH浓度高于控制室。上述结果可以通过控制室内安装的空调设备的过滤作用来解释。三个选定烧结工艺区域的PAH同系物分布与室外环境有显著差异，这表明在烧结工作场所大气中发现的PAHs主要来自工艺逸散物。总PAH暴露水平低于当前的允许暴露限值，因此表明烧结工人并非因PAHs导致长期影响的高风险群体。此外，与上述PAH暴露相关的肺癌风险低于美国最高法院定义的显著风险水平，进一步证实了在现阶段他们的暴露是可以接受的。
