RESEARCH ARTICLE
Potential harmful elements in coal dust and human health risk
assessment near the mining areas in Cherat, Pakistan
Muhammad Ishtiaq
1
&
Noor Jehan
2
&
Said Akbar Khan
3
&
Said Muhammad
4
&
Umar Saddique
5
&
Bushra Iftikhar
1
&
Zahidullah
6
Received: 25 December 2017 /Accepted: 28 February 2018 /Published online: 12 March 2018
#
Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
This study was aimed to investigate the potential harmful element (PHE) concentrations in coal dust and evaluate the human risk
assessment and health effects near coal mining areas. For this purpose, dust samples were collected near various coal mines in
Cherat, Pakistan, and analyzed for the PHE concentrations. Determined PHE concentrations were evaluated for the health risk
assessment. Results revealed that ingestion was the major pathway as compared to others for PHE exposure. Individual chronic
daily intake (CDI) of PHEs was higher than their respective permissible exposure limits set for oral exposure routes by the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Chronic risk or health index (HI) values were observed < 1 for all
PHEs and in the order of Pb > Cr > Cd > Ni > Cu > Co > Zn. Higher HI values of Pb, Cr, and Cd could attribute to various chronic
health problems as observed during the medical examination survey of this study. Cancer risk (CR) values for this study were
observed within the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits. However, if current practices continued, the PHEs will
cross these limits in a near future. Therefore, this study strongly recommends the provision of safety measures, rules, and
regulation to avoid health hazards in the future.
Keywords Coal dust
.
Chronic daily intake
.
Chronic risk
.
Cancer risk
.
Coal mines
Introduction
Recently, the investigation of atmospheric contaminations
with coal dust and associated potential harmful elements
(PHEs) has become the prime focus of environmental studies
(Gabarrón et al. 2017; Khorshid and Thiele-Bruhn 2016;
Mirzaei Aminiyan et al. 2017). The major causes of dust emis-
sion in coal mining practices and processing are drilling,
blasting, loading, unloading, and transportation (Baur 2011;
Fabiano et al. 2014). Dust emission resulted in poor air circu-
lation and reduces its quality and visibility (Masto et al. 2017;
Reed 2005; Wheeler et al. 2000)andledtoworkers’ exposure
for longer time and higher intensity at mining sites. Exposure
for longer time and higher intensity in dust environment led to
severe health and other ecological/environmental problems
(Lashgari and Kecojevic 2015;Lietal.2016;Linetal.
2017;Mandaletal.2012). Health problems resulted from dust
particles are black lung (CWP), silicosis, increased mortality,
and play a critical role on climate change (Zhang et al. 2007),
and various other atmospheric processes (Huertas et al. 2012;
Tie et al. 2003).
Coal dust and residues are one of the major sources of PHEs
contamination in air (Rout et al. 2014;Sunetal.2015). The
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article
(https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1655-5) contains supplementary
material, which is available to authorized users.
* Said Muhammad
saidmuhammad1@gmail.com
1
Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Khyber
Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar,
Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
3
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bahria University,
Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
4
Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS University,
Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
5
Department of Chemistry, Abdul Wali Khan University,
Mardan 23200, Pakistan
6
Department of Environmental Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open
University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2018) 25:14666–14673
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1655-5
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