Secondary Particulate Matter Originating from an Industrial Source and Its Impact on Population Health

Epidemiological studies have reported adverse associations between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and several health outcomes. One issue in this field is exposure assessment and, in particular, the role of secondary PM(2.5), often neglected in environmental and health risk assessment. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the long-term environmental and health impact of primary and secondary PM(2.5) concentrations originating from a single industrial source. As a case study, we considered a coal power plant which is a large emitter of both primary PM(2.5) and secondary PM(2.5) precursors. PM(2.5) concentrations were estimated using the Calpuff dispersion model. The health impact was expressed in terms of number of non-accidental deaths potentially attributable to the power plant. Results showed that the estimated secondary PM(2.5) extended over a larger area than that related to primary PM(2.5) with maximum concentration values of the two components well separated in space. Exposure to secondary PM(2.5) increased significantly the estimated number of annual attributable non-accidental deaths. Our study indicates that the impact of secondary PM(2.5) may be relevant also at local scale and ought to be considered when estimating the impact of industrial emissions on population health.