City Health Journal

SCENARIO – BASED APPROACH TO DETERMINE EXHAUST POLLUTANT EMISSIONS FROM HEAVY DUTY ROAD TRAFFIC ALONG A SEGMENT OF THE PAN-EUROPEAN CORRIDOR 10

Nikola Manev — 2023-11-01

Heavy duty vehicles (HDV) play a significant role in the urban and extra-urban pollution derived from mobile sources. Due to their dynamic nature and complex pollution processes and mechanisms, quantifying such emissions is often lacking from national inventories. This paper aims to provide an insight into the extra-urban exhaust pollutant emission quantities that are a direct result from HDVs traversing the Pan-European Corridor 10. To achieve this, the paper uses publicly available and on-site testing data, and further it devises two scenarios that take account of the border passing and pay-toll waiting period for these types of vehicles. The motive behind writing this paper is that creating suitable and applicable scenarios may help in devising policies that will lead to decreasing the emission of pollutants from mobile sources, which will also decrease the overall pollutant concentration and improve the overall air quality.

COMBINING DIFFERENT FOSSIL FUEL TYPES USED IN CEMENT INDUSTRY WITH RDF AS ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND ANALYZING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

Monika Uler Zefik — 2023-11-01

In Macedonia, the recycling rate is extremely low, representing only 1% of the total generated waste, leading to large amounts of waste being landfilled. A solution in line with the waste management hierarchy regarding waste disposal is waste recovery represented through energy valorization by utilizing the remaining valuable components of waste. In order to avoid throwing waste into landfills, there is a possibility to use it as an energy source for clinker production. In the paper, the energy potential of different fossil fuels is analyzed and the environmental aspect from pairing fossil fuels with refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in the cement production process. According to the national legal framework, the cement industry is permitted to use different waste types as alternative fuels, including RDF. The considered cement industry can implement alternative fuels in the production process with amounts up to 30,000 - 35,000 tons per year. The calculations regarding CO₂ emissions were performed for 5 different scenarios with various shares of alternative fuels in the fuel mix composition, starting with 0%, continuing with 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Also, an economic effect achieved due to the replaced thermal energy source was calculated, expressed as mass saving of fossil fuel and financial saving derived. The performed calculations showed when RDF is used in the fuel mix with 75% the CO₂ emission reduction is 2.9% when used with coal, 7.3% when combined with lignite, and around 2% when combusted with petrol coke. Economic benefits are generated from the mass reduction of fossil fuels by their substitution with RDF. The maximal, theoretical substitution rate was 100% RDF where the financial savings from the reduced coal consumption were calculated to be above 12 million euro, from heavy fuel oil (HFO) saved were below 23,5 million euro, from reduced lignite usage were above 37 million, and from petrol coke saved were 15,4 million euro.

The Relationship between Air Pollution and Autism

Belgin YILDIRIM — 2023-11-01

With this study; It was aimed to investigate the link between air pollution and autism. It is a scientific fact that air pollution has negative effects on the health of living things. It affects human health in many ways, from cardiovascular diseases to lung diseases, from psychological disorders to cancer. Although people themselves are affected by the polluted air they breathe, babies who are still in the womb can also get diseases caused by this pollution. One of them is autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to the researches, Turkey is the 6th most polluted country among the other countries in the European region, and the PM2.5 uq/m³ density, which is among the air pollutants, was 18.7 uq/m³ in 2020, while this rate increased to 3.74% in 2021. It was observed that it was measured as 20.0 uq/m³ with an increase. Among the 15 most polluted cities in the European region, Iğdır province was seen to be in the first place with a density of 66.2 μg/m³, and it was understood that Iğdır province breathed 13.24 μg/m³ times more polluted air according to WHO standards (maximum 5 μg/m³). While 1 out of 2,500 children was born with autism in the USA in 1970, there has been a rapid acceleration over the years and this rate has increased to 1 in 44 children for 2021. The rate of increase in the number of children with autism from 1970 to 2021 in the USA is 5,680%. The research revealed that there is a link between air pollution and OSB.