MICROENVIRONMENTAL ZONES AND OCCUPANCY FACTORS IN JHARIA COALFIELD - PAH HEALTH EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT

An increasingly wide range of toxic chemicals are being continuously r eleased into the environment. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) h appen to be one of the most hazardous among them because of their carc inogenicity. They am mainly produced by combustion processes involving carbon-based substances such as fossil fuels and biomass, and have be en reported to be present in significant concentrations in coal mining and coal processing areas. Responsiveness and susceptibilities to the pollutants, in general, has age-specific variability. A series of rec ent studies suggest that school children may be both sensitive and spe cifically reactive to air pollution health effects. Hence, the control of air pollution should be based on the most sensitive groups of pers ons. In line with pollutant/climate micro-environment concept, human e xposures to PAH have been analyzed and estimated (in the present artic le) in terms of dose rates for residential and industrial microenviron mental zones in Jharia Region. The analysis is based on age-specific b reathing rates, body weights, and occupancy factors for different zone s.