A monitoring strategy to assess the fugitive emission from a steel plant

An assessment of the fugitive emission impact on ambient air PM, PAHs and metal concentrations was performed in a residential area near the biggest European steel plant. A careful experimental design was developed to characterize fugitive emissions produced by the integrated steel plant. A PM10 and PM2.5 monitoring campaign was conducted at three sampling sites around the steel plant, in order to perform a triangulation in the area surrounding the investigated site and evaluate its impact based on wind direction. Data analysis showed that the transport of air mass, from the steelworks to one of the receptor sites, resulted in ambient air concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn and PAHs higher than those observed in the other two sites. Principal component analysis allowed the identification of four emission sources: coke ovens stack, mineral park, a crustal source and vanadium source. The first two sources were characterized by high concentrations of PAHs and metals and related to the steelworks, while the vanadium source was probably associated with maritime traffic in the port area. This preliminary monitoring approach proved effective in identifying the fugitive emission contribution of the steel plant to the surrounding air quality.