Adam Pawełczyk

Assessment of health risk associated with persistent organic pollutants in water

This paper presents the results of analyses of water samples taken from water intakes supplying one of the districts located near the city of Wrocław. Surprisingly high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and chloroorganic pesticides, classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), were detected in the monitored sites. Basing on the analytical and toxicological data, the individual health risks related to carcinogenic effects (excess cancer risk over a lifetime) in humans were assessed, resulting from direct ingestion of community water. Also noncarcinogenic effects resulting from exposure to the examined POPs were determined. The conservative approach to risk assessment, taking into account a safety margin for data incompleteness, was adopted. The carcinogenic risk was found to slightly exceed the unconditionally acceptable risk of 10−6 in the case of polychlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorocyclohexane, for all the inhabitant populations. The determined values of noncarcinogenic effects expressed by hazard quotient and hazard index indicate that the water pollutants and their concentrations do not cause an increase in noncarcinogenic incidences in the inhabitants using the monitored water sources.

Assessment of health hazard associated with nitrogen compounds in water

This paper presents results of analyses of water in the river Mała Panew in South West Poland flowing through a rural area with some chemical industry developed. The aims of the work were to investigate the pollutants level in the river, compare the obtained results with obligatory drinking water standards and determine possible health effects when using the river as a source for drinking water production. Attention was given to nitrogen compounds as nitrate(V) ions (NO(3-)) and nitrite(III) ions (NO(2-)), mostly of anthropogenic origin, were detected in the monitored water. The average concentrations of NO(3-) and NO(2-) were 3.54 and 0.286 mg/dm(3), respectively. The chances for non-carcinogenic effects, namely methemoglobinemia, resulting from possible exposure to the examined chemicals were determined based on the analytical and toxicological data. As infants are the sub-population most susceptible to nitrate-induced methemoglobinemia, the assessment was limited to children aged 0-3 years. The determined values expressed by hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) indicate that the water pollutants and their concentrations do not exceed unity; however, in the case of infants, the other nitrate sources should be controlled.

Health risk associated with airborne asbestos

The following paper presents an assessment of health risks associated with air polluted with respirable asbestos fibers in towns of southwest Poland. The aim of the work was to determine whether or not any prevention measures are necessary in order to reduce the level of exposure to the pollutant. The risk assessment was carried out based on the air analyses and the latest asbestos toxicity data published by the Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), USA and Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). It was found that in some sites, the concentration of the asbestos fibers exceeded the acceptable levels, which should be a reason of special concern. The highest concentration of asbestos was found in town centers during the rush hours. In three spots, the calculated maximum health risk exceeded 1E-04 which is considered too high according to the adopted standards. So far, it has not yet been possible to find a reasonable method of ensuring the hazard reduction.

Chemical elimination of the harmful properties of asbestos from military facilities

This work presents research on the neutralization of asbestos banned from military use and its conversion to usable products. The studies showed that asbestos can be decomposed by the use of phosphoric acid. The process proved very effective when the phosphoric acid concentration was 30%, the temperature was 90°C and the reaction time 60min. Contrary to the common asbestos treatment method that consists of landfilling, the proposed process ensures elimination of the harmful properties of this waste material and its transformation into inert substances. The obtained products include calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate and silica. Chemical, microscopic and X-ray analyses proved that the products are free of harmful fibers and can be, in particular, utilized for fertilizers production. The obtained results may contribute to development of an asbestos utilization technique that fits well into the European waste policy, regulated by the EU waste management law.

Impact of military metallurgical plant wastes on the population's health risk.

This paper presents the results of water, soil and air analyses taken in the vicinity of a former ferrochromium metallurgical plant. In the past, the area was used for the disposal of waste materials containing smelter slag, dust and other waste products from the manufacture of ferrochromium alloys for the army. Recently, production was abandoned and a project aimed at the liquidation of the dump has been initiated. The project concentrates on the recovery of chromium remains and the utilization of the leftover material as a road construction aggregate. Based on the analyses of ground water, soil and air, a health risk caused by environmental pollution with chromium, especially with Cr(VI), was determined for residential and occupational scenarios. It was found that the level of chromium emissions to the environment constitutes a potential danger of toxic and carcinogenic cases in humans exposed to the emission in the affected area. An increased level in the hazard quotient has been observed in the case of occupational activities. As far as the mutagenic effects are concerned, the occupational inhalation exposure was found to be very high, which may raise extreme concern about carcinogenic risk.

Mitigation of the Environmental Health Risk on Military Air Bases Polluted with Hydrocarbons

AbstractThis paper presents the environmental and health threats caused by petroleum products as well as the results of remediation work on five air bases where biological cleaning methods developed by the authors were implemented. The aviation fuel leakages endangered the health of people and surface water streams at the sites as well as in distant locations. The aim of the research was to verify remediation techniques developed in laboratory tests. The initial concentration of total petroleum products in the soils reached 2,320–8,770  mg/kg of dry matter, which presented an extremely high risk to the population and the environment. The autochthonous bacterial strains, which included Pseudomonas fluorescens, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Pseudomonas putida I, and Pseudomonas putida II, were proven to be very effective in degrading the xenobiotics. The applied microorganisms in conjunction with the authors’ remediation techniques produced very successful results. In the technical ex situ and in situ tests,...

Identifying risk sources of air contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

This article is directed to determining concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are sorbed to solid particles in the air. Pollution sources were identified on the basis of the ratio of benzo[ghi]perylene (BghiPe) to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Because various important information is lost by determining the simple ratio of concentrations, least squares linear regression (classic ordinary least squares regression), reduced major axis, orthogonal regression, and Kendall-Theil robust diagnostics were utilized for identification. Statistical evaluation using all aforementioned methods demonstrated different ratios of the monitored PAHs in the intervals examined during warmer and colder periods. Analogous outputs were provided by comparing gradients of the emission factors acquired from the measured concentrations of BghiPe and BaP in motor vehicle exhaust gases. Based on these outputs, it was possible plausibly to state that the influence of burning organic fuels in heating stoves is prevalent in colder periods whereas in warmer periods transport was the exclusive source because other sources of PAH emissions were not found in the examined locations.

Prospects for processing wastes into products used in agriculture.

The authors have proposed their own newly developed universal procedure for assessing waste and selecting methods of processing the waste for agricultural purposes. Increasingly more rigorous environmental legal regulations, especially pertaining to sustainability in agricultural and chemical production, were the most convincing motivation for such approach. The procedure is based on technological and environmental safety criteria. Special attention is devoted to the chemical processing of hazardous wastes into fertilizer products and the underlying reasons for such methodology. As opposed to physical and biochemical processes, in chemical processes the agents used completely change the chemical structure of the waste materials or at least that of some of their components. As a result, new phases are formed and the harmful properties of the initial material are eliminated. Prospects for the chemical processing of hazardous wastes are demonstrated using as an example the utilization of asbestos wastes. There are vast amounts of asbestos materials installed in industrial, communal, and service facilities. Landfill asbestos waste disposal is the common practice, but this does not solve properly the problem of environmental hazard. The proposed utilization concept consists in destroying asbestos with a phosphoric acid solution in a two-stage process. The obtained suspension is then filtered, and the solution of phosphates containing an excess of phosphoric acid is subsequently neutralized with lime and processed into phosphate fertilizers of TSP (triple superphosphate) or DCP (dicalcium phosphate) type. Experiments showed that the process yielded asbestos-free products which did not contain any respirable fibers. Comparative immunological tests showed that the products did not cause any degeneration of human lung cells exposed to them, as opposed to the original asbestos, which had a highly damaging effect on the cells.