Investigation on the Dust Dispersion (PM10 and PM2.5) by Doroud Cement Plant and Study of Its Individual Exposure Rates

Dust originated from cement production is one of the most important environmental problems. Doroud Cement Plant is one of pollutant industries in Doroud Township. The aim of this study was to survey the dust amounts measuring (PM10 and PM2.5), air quality investigation in terms of PM10 and PM2.5 and compute of individual exposure rate.
In this analytical-description study, Dust Truck Model TSI 8520 was used for the sampling of particulate matter. PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were evaluated in 10 sampling stations in surrounding of cement plant according to the EPA guideline. These stations were important in terms of exposure with dust. The data was analyzed by SPSS-16.0 software and statistics tests of One-way ANOVA and T-test.
Findings: The results of this study showed that the maximum concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 was 61.4±12.02 µg/m3 and 36.8±2.12 µg/m3, respectively. In 3.06 % of the samples of PM10, the air quality was in unhealthy state and 100 % of the samples of PM2.5, the air quality were reported to be in good condition. In addition, the amounts of personal exposure with PM10 and PM2.5 were in the range of 491.2-614 μg-h/m3 and 294.4-368 μg-h/m3, respectively.
Discussion & Increase of dust concentration from the plant stack has been transferred the irritant and hazardous pollutants to the Doroud Township and residential areas. Therefore, it is recommended that novel methods such as Bag Filters, Bag Houses and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) should be used to reduce the dust from stack.