The primary use of coke is as a fuel reductant and support for other raw materials in iron-making blast furnaces. Coke is also used to synthesize calcium carbide and to manufacture graphite and electrodes, and coke-oven gas is used as a fuel. By-products of coke production may be refined into commodity chemicals (such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, sulfur, and ammonium sulfate) (IARC 1984, Kaegi et al. 2000).
Coke oven emissions are complex mixtures of coal and coke particles, various vapors, gases, and tars that include various substances including, benzene, naphthylamine, cadmium, arsenic, beryllium, and chromium.
Coke-oven emissions are known to be human carcinogens based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in humans.
