Assessing Energy-Based CO<sub>2</sub> Emission and Workers’ Health Risks at the Shipbreaking Industries in Bangladesh

The study represents the estimation of energy-based CO<sub>2</sub> emission and the health risks of workers involved in the shipbreaking industries in Sitakunda, Bangladesh. To calculate the carbon emission (CE) from three shipbreaking activities, i.e., metal gas cutting (GC), diesel fue...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nandita Mitra, Shihab Ahmad Shahriar, Nurunnaher Lovely, Md Shohel Khan, Aweng Eh Rak, S. P. Kar, Md Abdul Khaleque, Mohamad Faiz Mohd Amin, Imrul Kayes, Mohammed Abdus Salam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
Series:Environments
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/7/5/35
Description
Summary:The study represents the estimation of energy-based CO<sub>2</sub> emission and the health risks of workers involved in the shipbreaking industries in Sitakunda, Bangladesh. To calculate the carbon emission (CE) from three shipbreaking activities, i.e., metal gas cutting (GC), diesel fuel (FU) and electricity consumption (EC), we used the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Emission and Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) emission factors. Moreover, the geographic weighted regression (GWR) model was applied to assess the contribution of influencing factors of CE throughout the sampling points. To assess the workers’ health condition and their perceptions on environmental degradation, a semi-structured questionnaire survey among 118 respondents were performed. The results showed that total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from GC were 0.12 megatons (MT), 11.43 MT, and 41.39 MT for daily, monthly, and yearly respectively, and the values were significantly higher than the surrounding control area. Emissions from the FU were estimated as daily: 0.85 MT, monthly: 1.92 MT, and yearly: 17.91 MT, which were significantly higher than EC. The study also revealed that workers were very susceptible to accidental hazards especially death (91%), and pollution (79%). Environmental consequences and health risks of the workers in shipbreaking industry warrant more attention nationally and internationally at the industry-level.
ISSN:2076-3298