The study of fugitive dust emissions and its characteristic arising from manufacturing industries is necessary in order to protect the factory workers, host communities, ambient air quality and the environment. To achieve this, fugitive dust samples were collected in different manufacturing plants and resuspended using a designed and fabricated resuspension chamber in a simulated controlled environment. resuspended dusts were captured on filter paper and analyzed for chemical compositions using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The developed source profiles from metal recycling, ceramics, paper and cement industries showed different composition chemically.In the metal recycling plant, the profile was majorly characterized by high presence of toxic trace elements (Pb and Co), alongside significant concentrations Fe and Al. However, paper and cement industries profiles showed domination of crustal (Ca and Si) forming the major matrix. The profiles of the two industries showed lower concentrations of hazardous trace elements, with metal recycling showing the most significant load of heavy metal with significant risk to human health. Sulphur was identified as a non-metallic component across all industries in the developed profiles. The developed source profiles showed distinct chemical fingerprints for each manufacturing industries. Metal recycling plants showed higher prevalence for heavy metals, posing significant health risks to factory workers and the environment. The findings in the current study showed the importance of industries specific emission abatement technologies to reduce the impact of fugitive dust in the ambient environment.
Oke et al. (Fri,) studied this question.