Contribution of landfill fires to air pollution - An assessment methodology

We investigated the contribution of waste fires to air pollution. The annual emission of pollutants (CO, NOx, PM10, SO2) and greenhouse gases (CH4, CO2) were evaluated. The prediction of emissions is based on statistical data from 79 large fires that took place in Poland in 2018. We analyzed the spatial distribution of these fires along with the expected emission factor. The predicted emissions from all large waste fires was in total: 2.05 +/- 0.10 Gg of CH4, 19.60 +/- 0.90 Gg of CO, 196 +/- 13 Gg of CO2, 0.963 +/- 0.047 Gg of NOx, 5.26 +/- 0.58 Gg of PM10, and 0.72 +/- 0.12 Gg of SO2. For the evaluation of the consequences, we used the number of people exposed to PM10 emitted in one very big fire. Almost 6.5 million people were exposed to an additional 1-hour average concentration of PM10 higher than 10 mu g/m(3) and over 360 thousand were exposed to a concentration higher than 100 mu g/m(3). (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study investigates the impact of waste fires on air pollution, evaluating the emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. The findings show significant contributions to air pollution and potential health risks for the exposed population. Data on spatial distribution and emission factors were used to predict the total emissions from large waste fires.