Public Health Risks Using Photovoltaic Systems
10 June 2009 | Solar Power | 1 Comment
Accidental exposure to accidentally released toxic gases from module manufacturing facilities and to energized circuits are likely to be the most important source of acute public health damage.Risks to public health from accidentally released toxic gases are similar to those that could be experienced in the workplace.Because workers tend to be healthier than the general public, a given exposure to each group should present larger health risks to the public.
However, because of the physical separation in time and space between a manufacturing facility and the general public, the averall hazard to the public is likely to be smaller than that of a worker.Nevertheless, protecting the public from accidentally released toxic gases is one of the most important issues facing module manufacturers.
Public health may be affected principally from chronic exposure to compounds released to the environment as a byproduct of different manufacturing steps or as a waste from the uncontrolled disposal of spent photovoltaic modules at the end of their useful life.Large-scale disposal of spent photovoltaic devices will not occur until 20-30 years after their initial installation.
In the decommissioning of these devices, the principal concern will be associated with the presence of heavy metals(Cd and Se) in the solid wastes.In the case of disposal in a municipal waste stream, hazards to the public aould arise from leaching of landfilled waste and mobilization of metal compounds into ground and surface waters and possibly terrestrial foodchains or from combustion and mobilization of compounds to the atmosphere.
Tags: chronic exposure, electromagnetic, heavy metals, metal compounds, Photovoltaic Acute Public Health Risks, photovoltaic modules, public health damage, released toxic gases, Solar Power
You know this is a really good post i havent thought about this for quite a while and you have like sparked me to look into it further and re educate my self in the subject….thanks,hope to see more of your posts soon