Assessment of Environmental and Health Risks of the Chemical Industry by Applying Fuzzy Logic: A Case Study in South Tehran, Iran

Chemical industries in southern Tehran are one of the largest ones in Iran, requiring organized environmental risk management. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) can effectively decrease the risk of failure in industrial systems and processes. This case study aimed to apply the fuzzy logic approach for assessing environmental risks in chemical industries.

The present cross-sectional analytical study formed an assessment team to use their expert opinion collected as Z number. Each identified risk factor (severity, occurrence, detection) was weighted using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and prioritized the failure modes.

Based on the results, 52.94 % of the identified environmental risks were moderate, 35.29 % were high-level, and 11.76 % were low-level risks. The main risks were occupational, health, safety, and environmental, leading to a decrease in the quality of environmental parameters, including air, water, and soil.

The proposed fuzzy and FMEA methods removed the problem of homogeneity of risk factor weights, data uncertainty, and prioritization of failure modes, which had a higher potential in prioritizing risks compared to the conventional FMEA methods. Additionally, the proposed model can identify risks and their roots, leading to accurate risk control tools.