Environmental impacts from atmospheric emission of heavy metals: A case study of a cement plant

Nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the primary emissions in cement industry. Small quantities of heavy metals also may be emitted. Heavy metal emissions from cement plants depend on their content in fuels and raw materials, industrial technology and emission control measures. During the cement production process at high temperatures many heavy metals present in the fuel and the raw materials evaporate and then condense on the clinker and partly on fine particles in the flue gas. The latter portion of the metals finds its way to the atmosphere after passing through the emission control equipment. The contents of heavy metals, released into the air by Gubbio in cement industry and fallout to the ground in the surrounding area of dispersion of gaseous emissions, were investigated. The analyses revealed the presence of various traces of heavy metals, namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) in atmospheric emissions of cement industry. Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium and Nickel, like most inorganic compounds, meet the classification criteria as carcinogenic substances pursuant to EC Regulation 1272/2008 and carcinogenic according to Dir. 2004/37/EC.