Health and Exposure Assessment of Flare Gas Emissions

摘要

Flaring is used by the oil and gas industry to dispose of waste gases in Alberta. However,rnincomplete combustion of these gases produces a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)rnand polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Public health concerns about gas flaringrnemissions have existed for a number of years. From a practical perspective, there are severalrnfacts known and some facts less well understood in considering the importance of flaring andrnhuman exposure to flare gas emissions. Most flare stacks are located in rural areas. Timeactivityrnstudies of humans are lacking in that they have not emphasized behavior of ruralrnpopulations, who would be most susceptible to exposure from these pollutants. Studies ofrnprimarily urban populations indicate that people spend a majority of time indoors.rnMany VOCs and PAHs measured in gas flare emissions are already present indoors originatingrnfrom indoor sources and almost always at higher levels than outdoors. As humans breath arnmajority of air indoors, inhalation exposure is influenced to a much greater degree from indoorrnair quality than outdoor air in these instances. Health assessment of hazardous air pollutantsrnemitted from burning flares must take into account indoor and other background exposures inrnorder to provide useful information for public health decision-makers.