Date of Award
8-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Engineering
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Major Professor
Kura, Bhaskar
Second Advisor
LaMotta, Enrique
Third Advisor
Williams, Patricia
Abstract
Human health risk assessments are used by environmental regulatory agencies to determine risk from Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs). In this study, the Human Exposure Model (HEM-3) was used to compare the cancer and non-cancer inhalation health effects of a single organic chemical manufacturing facility in Geismar, Louisiana prior to and after Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACT) were implemented. The results indicate significant reductions in both cancer risk and non-cancer hazards. The analysis also indicated that the equivalent cancer risk reduction could have been achieved by addressing MACT in only one production process and one single pollutant (ethylene dichloride) within that process. This demonstrates the value that these risk assessments have at evaluating emissions at the facility level, and how they could be used in the control strategy decision making process.
Recommended Citation
Gordon, Keith, "MACT Implementation at an Organic Chemical Manufacturing Facility: Human Health Risk Reduction" (2010). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1222.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1222
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.