Inhalation Risks of Mercury in Indoor Air from Building Materials Containing Coal Combustion Products (CCPs)

摘要

Findings from this conservative risk assessment demonstrate that off-gassing of mercury from CCPs in concrete and wallboard building materials is unlikely to result in Hg exposures of potential health concern in either classroom settings or residential homes. This risk assessment is considered to be conservative based on its use of high-end assumptions for modeling indoor air mercury concentrations and for calculating time-adjusted exposure concentrations. Although it is anticipated that mercury levels may increase in CCPs due to continued efforts to increase mercury capture to meet progressively more stringent regulatory requirements, this assessment supports a large margin of safety, indicating that mercury off-gassing from CFA concrete and FGD gypsum wallboard is unlikely to contribute to indoor air mercury concentrations of health concern. Importantly, this analysis demonstrates the utility of risk assessment as a tool for evaluating the safety of CCP beneficial use applications and addressing perceived adverse health risks associated with the presence of trace metals such as mercury in CCPs.