Assessment of emissions and potential occupational exposure to carbon monoxide during biowaste composting

To date, only a few studies focused on the carbon monoxide (CO) production during waste composting; all targeted on CO inside piles. Here, the CO net emissions from compost piles and the assessment of workers occupational risk of exposure to CO at large-scale composting plants are shown for the first time. CO net emissions were measured at two plants processing green waste, sewage sludge, or undersize fraction of municipal solid waste. Effects of the location of piles (hermetised hall vs. open yard) and turning (before vs. after) were studied. Higher CO net emission rates were observed from piles located in a closed hall. The average CO flux before turning was 23.25 and 0.60 mg{middle dot}m-2{middle dot}h-1 for hermetised and open piles, respectively, while after - 69.38 and 5.11 mg{middle dot}m-2{middle dot}h-1. The maximum CO net emissions occurred after the compost was turned (1.7x to 13.7x higher than before turning). The top sections of hermetised piles had greater CO emissions compared to sides. Additionally, 5% of measurement points of hermetised piles switched to CO sinks. The 1-h concentration in hermetised composting hall can reach max. [~]50 mg CO{middle dot}m-3 before turning, and >115 mg CO{middle dot}m-3 after, exceeding the WHO thresholds for a 1-h and 15-min exposures, respectively.