Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Usage of Oil Industry Products and Wastes as Alternative Fuel

The need for oil industry products has been increasing in parallel to the rapid population growth and industrialization. Physical and chemical properties of these products change after usage based on the media and operating conditions. Then, these products lose the eligibility and turn into the form of waste. The most commonly used method for the disposal of waste oils is combustion due to its high calorific value. In this study, the possible effects on the environment and human health of combustion of oil industry products and wastes are evaluated. Poor combustion conditions lead emissions from the process depending on the ingredients of wastes in addition to incomplete combustion products such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic chemicals polyaromatic hydrocarbons, metals etc. that may occur according to the type of waste. These emissions are released into the environment and partition between soil, water and air media related to their physicochemical characteristics. In addition to environmental problems, these emissions are a risk factor for human health in terms of carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Regulations and control measures should be put into practice in order to get rid of the effects of non-standard diesel like product named number 10 lube on human health and environment. In this context, emission measurements should be done simultaneously to determine the effects of combustion of these wastes and products of oil industry.