Environmental Risk Assessment of Toxic Emissions into the Air Resulting from Waste Fires

Uncontrolled waste fires pose a significant environmental and human health risk due to the emission and dispersion of hazardous gases and particulate matter. This study develops a receptor-oriented methodology for screening environmental risk based on human and environmental exposure to air pollutants released during waste storage facility fires. The approach combines Gaussian plume modelling (Pasquill stability classes) with a comparison of predicted pollutant concentrations against reference values established by Polish legislation, the US EPA, OSHA, and NDS standards. The methodology was applied to a case study involving the uncontrolled burning of waste from municipal waste treatment. For a waste mass of 14,000 kg, a fire duration of 3.5 h, and defined meteorological scenarios, concentration fields were modelled for selected pollutants, including PM10 and PM2.5, at receptor points and in the nearest residential area located approximately 700 m from the fire site. Under the most unfavourable analysed conditions (stability class 6, wind speed 1 m/s, southerly wind), the predicted concentrations at residential receptors remained below the applicable reference values. The results indicate that the proposed modelling framework can provide a rapid screening tool for environmental risk assessment following uncontrolled waste fires, particularly when direct emission or air-quality measurements are unavailable.