Human Toxicity Impact of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Emitted from Lignite Burning

In the present study, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) toxicity of lignite burning was investigated. Results showed the emissions of benzo [a] pyrene, benzo [a] anthracene, Fluoranthene, and dibenz [ah] anthracene were the dominant substances contributing to the PAHs potential human toxicity impact. By contrast, the substances of Naphthalene, Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene had the most important contributing to the overall PAHs emissions. These results indicate that high PAHs emissions are not necessarily results to high health impact. The health toxicity generated from lignite burning are significantly affected by the air input volume and the diameter of used lignite. The lowest PAHs emissions and highest health impact caused by PAHs were observed when air input is 2 m3/kg-lignite and 2.5m3/kg-lignite, respectively. In addition, an increasing tendency of PAHs toxicity with an increase in diameter of lignite for both emission and impact were observed.