Pollution

Pollution

Air Pollution from Brick Kiln Industry and its Effects on the Kiln Workers and nearby Agricultural Lands

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors
Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, The University of Burdwan, West, Bengal, India
Abstract
The brick kiln industry plays a crucial role in supporting local economies, particularly in developing countries; however, it is also associated with significant environmental and occupational health concerns. This study aims to identify pollution levels through real-time monitoring. The study found higher concentrations of various pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, CO, TVOC, and HCHO during kiln operation stages. Among the different pollutants, particulate matters (PM2.5 and PM10) and CO2 are invariably high in operational period than pre- and post-operational periods. However, other pollutants like CO, HCHO, TVOC etc are exhibited marginal difference between the pre, post and operational periods. The results also revealed that the heavy metals like Cu decreased, while Zn increased during the operational period, and Cd was not detected. Health issues such as headache, breathlessness, eye irritation, skin problems, asthma, and digestive problems were more prevalent among brick kiln workers. Therefore, brick kiln sector requires a careful monitoring considering both emission quality of kiln and health status of kiln workers.
Keywords
Subjects

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