NA Coke oven emissions [factsheet]

COKE OVEN EMISSIONS*

Please Note: The main source of information for this fact sheet is EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which contains information on the carcinogenic effects of coke oven emissions including the unit cancer risk for inhalation exposure. Other secondary sources include the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), a database of summaries of peer-reviewed literature, and The Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens, a reference book that summarizes the key effects from exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Environmental/Occupational Exposure

* Occupational exposure to coke oven emissions may occur for those workers in the aluminum, steel, graphite, electrical, and construction industries. (1)

Assessing Personal Exposure

* No information is available on the assessment of personal exposure to coke oven emissions.

Health Hazard Information

Acute Effects:

* No information is available on the effects of coke oven emissions from acute (short-term) exposure in humans.

* Animal studies have reported weakness, depression, dyspnea, general edema, and effects on the liver from acute oral exposure to coke oven emissions. (2)

Chronic Effects (Noncancer):

* Chronic (long-term) exposure to coke oven emissions in humans results in conjunctivitis, severe dermatitis, and lesions of the respiratory and digestive systems. (2)

* Animal studies have reported effects on the liver from chronic oral exposure to coke oven emissions. (2)

* EPA has not established an RfC or an RfD for coke oven emissions. (3)

Reproductive/Developmental Effects:

* No information is available on the reproductive or developmental effects of coke oven emissions in humans or animals.

Cancer Risk:

* Epidemiologic studies of coke oven workers have reported an increase in cancer of the lung, trachea, bronchus, kidney, prostate, and other sites. (3)

* Animal studies have reported tumors of the lung and skin from inhalation exposure to coal tar. (3)

* EPA has classified coke oven emissions as a Group A, human carcinogen. (3)

* EPA uses mathematical models, based on animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. EPA calculated an inhalation unit risk estimate of 6.2 H 10^-4 (Fg/m³)^-1. EPA estimates that, if an individual were to breathe air containing coke oven emissions at 0.002 Fg/m³* over his or her entire lifetime, that person would theoretically have no more than a one-in-a-million increased chance of developing cancer as a direct result of breathing air containing this chemical. Similarly, EPA estimates that breanot greater than a one-in-ten-thousand increased chance of developing

* EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, for a hazard ranking under Section 112(g) of the Clean Air Act Amendments, has ranked coke oven emissions in the nonthreshold category. The 1/ED₁₀ value is 1.5 per (mg/kg)/d and this would place it in the high category under Superfund's ranking for carcinogenic hazard. (4)

Physical Properties

* Coke oven emissions are a mixture of coal tar, coal tar pitch, and creosote and contain chemicals such as benzo(a)pyrene, benzanthracene, chrysene, and phenanthrene. (1)

* Condensed coke oven emissions are a brownish, thick liquid or semisolid with a naphthalene-like odor, while uncondensed coke oven emissions are vapors that escape when the ovens are changed and emptied. (2)

* The odor threshold for coke oven emissions is not available. The actual chemical content of the emissions depends on the process variables.

Uses

* Chemicals recovered from coke oven emissions are used as a raw material for plastics, solvents, dyes, drugs, waterproofing, paints, pipecoating, roads, roofing, insulation, and as pesticides and sealants. (2)

Health Data from Inhalation Exposure

Concentration (mg/m³)	Health numbers^a	Regulatory, advisory numbers^b	Reference
1.0
_ _ _ _ 0.1		* OSHA PEL and ACGIH TLV (coal tar pitch volatiles-benzene soluble) (0.2 mg/m³) * OSHA TLV (coke oven emissions) (0.150 mg/m³) * NIOSH REL (coal tar pitch volatiles, benzo(a)pyrene, 0.1 mg/m³)	1,5 1,5 1,5
_ _ _ _ 0.01
_ _ _ _ 0.001
_ _ _ _ 0.0001
_ _ _ _ 0.00001
_ _ _ _ 0.000001
_ _ _ _ 0.0000001	* EPA Cancer Risk Level (10^-6 excess risk) = 2 H 10^-6 mg/m³		3

See notes on following page.

ACGIH TLVCAmerican Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists' threshold limit value expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effects.

NIOSH RELCNational Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's recommended exposure limit; NIOSH-recommended exposure limit for an 8- or 10-h time-weighted-average exposure and/or ceiling.

OSHA PELCOccupational Safety and Health Administration's permissible exposure limit expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effects averaged over a normal 8-h workday or a 40-h workweek.

OSHA TLVCOccupational Safety and Health Administration's threshold limit value expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effects averaged over a normal 8-h workday or a 40-h workweek.

^a Health numbers are toxicological numbers from animal testing or risk assessment values developed by EPA.

^b Regulatory numbers are values that have been incorporated in Government regulations, while advisory numbers are nonregulatory values provided by the Government or other groups as advice.

References

1. M. Sittig. Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens. 2nd ed. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ. 1985.

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB, online database). National Toxicology Information Program, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. 1993.

3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) on Coke Oven Emissions. Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH. 1993.

4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technical Background Document to Support Rulemaking Pursuant to the Clean Air ActCSection 112(g). Ranking of Pollutants with Respect to Hazard to Human Health. EPAB450/3-92-010. Emissions Standards Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC. 1994.

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS, online database). National Toxicology Information Program, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. 1993.