The exposure to benzene, toluene, xylenes and total hydrocarbons among 25 individuals exposed to exhaust from a snowmobile equipped with a two-stroke engine has been evaluated. Sampling was performed by pumped and diffusive sampling in parallel. There was a relatively bad agreement between the two air-sampling methods. The bad agreement can in part be explained by back diffusion of the substances from the samplers, a high face velocity, and deposition of droplets of unburned gasoline onto or in the vicinity of the samplers.
The levels of benzene ranged from not detectable (0.01 mg m−3) to 2.5 mg m−3. For toluene, xylenes and total hydrocarbons the exposure was 0.10–12.0, 0.05–13.0 and 0.90–273 mg m−3 respectively. The result from two measurements on individuals travelling on an open sleigh at the rear of the vehicle indicated higher levels of benzene, 0.7–0.8 mg m−3. Children are often riding as a passenger on a sledge and may thus have a higher exposure than their parents. This study indicates that spare time driving a snowmobile may cause a considerable exposure to benzene. Using a four-stroke engine equipped with a catalyst could reduce the exposure. To reduce the exposure for the passenger on a sleigh an extension of the exhaust pipe may be effective. 相似文献
Many oil industry related sites have become contaminated due to the activities characteristic of this industry, such as oil exploration and production, refining, and petro-chemistry. In Mexico, reported hydrocarbon spills for the year 2000 amounted to 185 203, equivalent to 6252 tons (PEMEX, 2000). The first step for the remediation of these polluted sites is to assess the size and intensity of the oil contamination affecting the subsoil and groundwater, followed by a health risk assessment to establish clean up levels. The aim of this work was to characterize the soil and water in a north-central Mexico Oil Storage and Distribution Station (ODSS), in terms of TPHs, gasoline and diesel fractions, BTEX, PAHs, MTBE, and some metals. Besides, measurements of the explosivity index along the ODSS were made and we describe and discuss the risk health assessment analysis performed at the ODSS, as well as the recommendations arising from it. Considering soils with TPH concentrations higher than 2000 mg kg−1, the contaminated areas corresponding to the railway zone is about 12 776.5 m2, to the south of the storage tanks is about 6558 m2, and to the south of the filling tanks is about 783 m2. Total area to be treated is about 20 107 m2 (volume of 20 107 m3), considering 1 m depth. 相似文献
Concerns about energy security and climate change have sparked legislators’ interest in reducing gasoline consumption by increasing corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) standards. Using an empirically rich simulation model and cost estimates for anticipated fuel-economy technologies, we estimate annual costs of reducing long-run gasoline consumption by 10% via a 3.8 miles per gallon increase in the standards, and the potential cost savings from allowing manufacturers to buy and sell fuel-economy credits. Maximum gasoline savings would be realized only after all existing vehicles were replaced, or 14 years in our model. A gasoline tax would produce greater immediate savings by encouraging people to drive less, and eventually to choose more-fuel-efficient vehicles. We demonstrate the advantage of a tax by comparing the cost of the higher CAFE standards over the first 14 years against the cost of a gasoline tax that would save the same amount of gasoline over that time. 相似文献
Ship auxiliary engines contribute large amounts of air pollutants when at berth.Biodiesel,including that from waste cooking oil(WCO),can favor a reduction in the emission of primary pollutant when used with internal combustion engines.This study investigated the emissions of gaseous intermediate-volatile organic compounds(IVOCs) between WCO biodiesel and marine gas oil(MGO) to further understand the differences in secondary organic aerosol(SOA) production of exhausts.Results revealed that WCO exhaust exhibited similar IVOC composition and volatility distribution to MGO exhaust,despite the differences between fuel contents.While WCO biodiesel could reduce IVOC emissions by 50% as compared to MGO,and thus reduced the SOA production from IVOCs.The compositions and volatility distributions of exhaust IVOCs varied to those of their fuels,implying that fuel-component-based SOA predicting model should be used with more cautions when assessing SOA production of WCO and MGO exhausts.WCO biodiesel is a cleaner fuel comparing to conventional MGO on ship auxiliary engines with regard to the reductions in gaseous IVOC emissions and corresponding SOA productions.Although the tests were conducted on test bench,the results could be considered as representative due to the widely applications of the test engine and MGO fuel on real-world ships. 相似文献
Biodegradation of organic contaminants in groundwater is a microscale process which is often observed on scales of 100s of metres or larger. Unfortunately, there are no known equivalent parameters for characterizing the biodegradation process at the macroscale as there are, for example, in the case of hydrodynamic dispersion. Zero- and first-order degradation rates estimated at the laboratory scale by model fitting generally overpredict the rate of biodegradation when applied to the field scale because limited electron acceptor availability and microbial growth are not considered. On the other hand, field-estimated zero- and first-order rates are often not suitable for predicting plume development because they may oversimplify or neglect several key field scale processes, phenomena and characteristics. This study uses the numerical model BIO3D to link the laboratory and field scales by applying laboratory-derived Monod kinetic degradation parameters to simulate a dissolved gasoline field experiment at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden. All input parameters were derived from independent laboratory and field measurements or taken from the literature a priori to the simulations. The simulated results match the experimental results reasonably well without model calibration. A sensitivity analysis on the most uncertain input parameters showed only a minor influence on the simulation results. Furthermore, it is shown that the flow field, the amount of electron acceptor (oxygen) available, and the Monod kinetic parameters have a significant influence on the simulated results. It is concluded that laboratory-derived Monod kinetic parameters can adequately describe field scale degradation, provided all controlling factors are incorporated in the field scale model. These factors include advective–dispersive transport of multiple contaminants and electron acceptors and large-scale spatial heterogeneities. 相似文献