Impact of Particulate Matter Emission from Barapukuria Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant on Premature Human Mortality

Abstract

This study is carried out to assess the impact of PM2.5 emission from Barapukuria Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant on human health in the adjoining areas. This is the first investigation of its kind. As data for actual concentrations of PM2.5 at various locations around Barapukuria are not available, we have adopted the PM2.5 emission rate data from coal-fired power plants of India and China for Barapukuria Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant. Using this adopted emission rate of PM2.5, we have calculated the concentrations of PM2.5 in the exposed areas using Gaussian Plume Dispersion Equation. As the first attempt of this kind of work, we have estimated annual average concentrations of PM2.5 in 11 upazillas along the annual average wind direction (south-east) from Barapukuria. These upazillas fall within 160km from Barapukuria along south-east direction. The calculated results show that around 2.3 million people are exposed to significant concentrations of PM2.5. To accommodate the uncertainty of emission rates, we have calculated the impact of PM2.5 emission from the power plant for both the best case and the worst case scenarios. We have calculated intake fraction (iF) for both the best case and the worst case emission rates, which for both cases is found to be 2.18×104. We have also calculated the relative risk (RR). The calculated values of RR for the best case and the worst case are 1.0226 and 1.0610, respectively. We have theoretically calculated the expected number of premature deaths due to PM2.5 exposure. The calculated values for the best case and the worst case scenarios show that on an average 292 to 760 more people will die due to PM2.5 exposure every year. This preliminary study done under the mentioned limitations reveals that there is a potential risk of human health hazard due to PM2.5 emission from Barapukuria Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant.