Study area: Mongla Port Industrial Estate was selected as study area. Because the area is popularly known to cement manufacturing industries. The industrial area is owned by Mongla Port Authority which is adjacent to Mongla Port, the second largest sea port of Bangladesh. The area is situated under Bagerhat district of Khulna division. There are four cement factories in this industrial estate, namely Mongla, Meghna, Holcim and Dubai-Bangladesh cement factory respectively. All of these factories were studied for pollution quantification and health impact assessment.
Materials: High Volume Sampler was used to measure SPM (Suspended particulate matter), SO2 (Sulpher dioxide) and NO2 (Nitrogen dioxide) at different locations of Mongla, Meghna, Holcim, Dubai-Bangladesh cement factories. Sampling locations were jetty area, main gate and boundary wall of factories. For the assessment of air pollution from the cement factory, the Department of Environment (DoE) also collects samples from the above mentioned places. Sampling machine was run according to the advice of the senior scientific officer of the DoE, Khulna Division. The model of the High Volume Sampler machine was Envirotech APM-415. High Volume Sampler machine was run continuously for 24 hours to attain the most precise results of SPM, SO2 and NO2 emission rate to the ambient air. For SPM, PM10 † emission rate was considered. Sample of pollutant concentration (SPM, SO2 and NO2) was collected from the selected points. For ensuring accuracy, data was collected for three times in every point of each factory.
Methods: The emission rate of SPM, SO2 and NO2 in the ambient air from the cement factories were calculated by using the following methods:
SPM was calculated according to High volume Method (Anon, 2003).
Conc. of SPM = (W/V) ×106 (µgm-3)
Where, W = Weight of the suspended particulates
V = Volume of air sample
Workers of the cement factories were surveyed to know the health impacts. The survey tool was structured questionnaire. The analyzed result revealed that Mongla, Meghna, Dubai Bangladesh and Holcim cement factory have 36.25%, 27.5%, 22.5% and 13.75% of the total workers of the study area. Sample size was determined according to the percentage of the workers, working in each cement factory. In the questionnaire survey, total 140 workers were surveyed. Among the respondents 51, 38, 32 and 19 workers were taken from the above mentioned industries, respectively. The workers were further sub divided into bellow 21, 21-30, 31-40, and 41-50 and above 50 years age group for facilitate health impact assessment. The method of sampling was random sampling. The data of SPM, SO2, NO2 and questionnaire survey was conducted from June to August, 2005.