Emission characteristics of harmful air pollutants from cremators in Beijing, China

The process of corpse cremation generates numerous harmful air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals. These pollutants could have severe effects on the surrounding environment and human health. Currently, the awareness of the emission levels of harmful air pollutants from cremators and their emission characteristics is insufficient. In this study, we obtained the emission characteristics of flue gas from cremators in Beijing and determined the localized emission factors and emission levels of harmful air pollutants based on actual monitoring data from nine typical cremators. The results show that the emissions of air pollutants from the cremators that directly discharge flue gas exceed the emission standards of China and Beijing. The installation of a flue gas post-treatment system could effectively reduce gaseous pollutants and the emission levels of PM. After being equipped with a flue gas post-treatment system, the emission concentrations of PM(10), PM(2.5), CO, SO(2) and VOCs from the cremators are reduced by 97.6, 99.2, 19.6, 85.2 and 70.7%, respectively. Moreover, the emission factors of TSP, PM(10), PM(2.5), CO, SO(2) and VOCs are also reduced to 12.5, 9.3, 3.0, 164.1, 8.8 and 19.8 g/body. Although the emission concentration of VOCs from the cremators is not high, they are one of major sources of “odor” in the crematories and demand more attention. Benzene, a chemical that can seriously harm human health, constitutes the largest proportion (~50%) of the chemical components of VOCs in the flue gas from the cremators.