Human Health Implications of Outdoor Air Pollution by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Alexandria City, Egypt (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Biometeorology, 2018
Nowadays, a large number of health endpoints such as disease rates, treatment costs, and death, by air pollutants, have been a serious health problem for humans. One of the most hazardous air pollutants, which is highly dangerous for human health, is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The existence of the emission of industries' pollutants and seasonal variations are the primary agents affecting PAHs' concentration. The purposes of this study were to calculate the cancer risk and measure PAHs' exposure in the ambient air of Ahvaz, southwest of Iran, during 2017. Three distinct areas ((S1) industrial, (S2) high traffic, and (S3) residential) of Ahvaz metropolitan were selected. Omni sampler equipped with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filters were used for active sampling of PAHs. To detect the level of PAHs, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used. Incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) and lifetime average daily dose (LADD) were used to estimate the health risk caused by PAHs. The results showed that the residential and industrial areas had the lowest and highest level of PAHs. Moreover, the average levels of PAHs in industrial, high traffic, and residential areas were 8.44 ± 3.37, 7.11 ± 2.64, and 5.52 ± 1.63 ng m −3 , respectively. Furthermore, ILCR in autumn and winter was higher than EPA standard, 0.06307 and 0.04718, respectively. In addition, ILCR in different areas was significantly higher than standard. Research findings imply that the levels of exposure to PAHs can increase ILCR and risk of health endpoint. The cancer risk attributed to PAHs should be further investigated from the perspective of the public health in metropolitans.
Lung cancer risk by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a Mediterranean industrialized area
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2016
This study focuses on characterizing the chronic risk assessment from inhalation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for people living near the largest chemical complex in the Mediterranean area. Eighteen PAHs were determined in the atmospheric gas and particle phases, counting PM and total suspended particles. The lifetime lung cancer risk from PAH exposure was estimated, and the contribution was assessed by phases. The results obtained with the continuous lifetime scenario were compared with those obtained with different chronic scenarios. The estimated chronic risk was also compared with those reported in previous studies. PAHs were present at higher concentration in the gas phase (>84 %) with a major contribution of the most volatile PAHs, and an equitable distribution of heavy PAHs between gas and particle phases was observed. Petroleum combustion and traffic emissions were suggested as the main sources, but the influence of petrogenic sources cannot be ruled out. The...
Particulate matter (PM) is considered as one of the major pollutants that affect the health of humans, especially for the fine and ultrafine fraction, which can adsorb greater concentrations of toxic compounds, e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are a group of several complex organic compounds consisting of carbon and hydrogen, and two or more condensed benzene rings and represent one of the most stable families of organic compounds known. The known carcinogens isomers are primarily associated with particulate material and, usually, the highest concentrations are in the respirable fraction <5 µm. High PAHs levels in ambient air of large metropolitan areas are usually associated with vehicular emissions, including diesel and gasoline vehicles. Particle-bound PAHs in the fine and ultrafine fraction present a higher risk because they can deposit in the respiratory tract, hence aggravating the potentially negative health effects. In addition, some PAHs are possibly or probably carcinogenic to humans (benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k] fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h] anthracene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene). Thus, there is considerable concern about the relationship between PAHs exposure in the ambient air and the potential to contribute to human cancer incidence. The objective of this study was to conduct an assessment of carcinogenic and mutagenic risks of the studied PAHs in the PM1.0, PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 samples. The toxic equivalent factors were calculated to characterize more accurately the risk of cancer from PAH exposure in the PM samples. This was based on the contribution of the carcinogenic potency of benzo[a]pyrene. The ambient concentrations of 12 PAHs, beginning from fluorene, and their toxic equivalence factor (TEF) were used in the calculation. The carcinogenic risk for five carcinogenic PAHs (Chr, BaA, BaP, Ind, and DahA) in the PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 fractions ranged from 44.9% to 56.8%, of DahA ranged from 35.12% to 44.63%, and of Ind ranged from 5.24% to 6.65% of the total carcinogenic activity in the study area. For PM1.0 fraction, BaP and DahA dominated the BaPeq levels. The carcinogenicity activity contribution of BaP was in the range of 27.1% (Canoas summer) up to 44.0% (Sapucaia winter); and the contribution of DahA was of 22.7% (Sapucaia winter) up to 45.3% (Canoas summer). The contribution of Ind for the BaPeq levels was of 15.0% (Sapucaia summer) up to 17.8% (Sapucaia winter). Since 2006 to 2013, the highest BaPeq levels were observed in winter in the study, and there has not been an increase in the contribution in the BaPeq levels of potentially carcinogenic PAHs, except for Ind. The recent established air quality limit of the European Parliament, the scientific publication of the IARC and the carcinogenic risk demonstrate the importance that these pollutants require maximum reduction and their study. These results may help the environmental agency and government to have tools to control PAHs in ambient air.
Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 2016
The paper presents the assessment of emission sources and health risk of 16 PAHs in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, with developed oil, food, chemical and cement industry. Although the observed region has been previously studied with regard to the occurrence of PAHs in ambient air, the sources of emission and health risk using multivariate statistical methods have never been studied before. The research was conducted during the heating and nonheating periods at three sampling sites located in industrial, residential and high-traffic area. The samples were collected by high-volume air sampler and analysed using the GC/MS system. The data were processed using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) and cluster analysis. To assess the cancer-risk of PAHs, potency equivalency factor approach was used. The results of PMF analysis have indicated that significant sources of PAH emissions are industrial processes and diesel combustion during the nonheating, and coal combustion, heating plants and diesel combustion during the heating season. Cluster analysis of experimental data has confirmed the results obtained using the PMF method. Estimated values of lifetime lung cancer risk were higher than those set by the World Health Organization and US Environmental Protection Agency which indicates that cancer risk due to exposure to PAHs in ambient air exists in both time periods on the territory of Novi Sad.
Atmospheric Environment 60, 375–382, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.073, 2012
Conventional risk assessment studies provide no detailed information about the role of specific sources determining the total carcinogenic and mutagenic potencies of PAH mixtures on humans health. In this study, the main emission sources of 11 particle-phase PAHs listed as carcinogenic and mutagenic agents by the IARC were identified by a risk apportionment method. The contribution of sources to the total concentration of PAHs in the study area was also quantified. A receptor model based on factor and multiple linear regression analyses was applied to estimate the source-specific risk associated to PAH inhalation in an urban background area of a large city (Venice-Mestre, Northern Italy). The proposed approach has discriminated the sources of mutagenic and carcinogenic congeners and their role in determining a serious hazard for human health. Results, interpreted on the basis of seasonal variations and atmospheric conditions, have shown that even though domestic heating is the main ...
Investigation of Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Populated Middle Eastern City
Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, 2020
Characteristics, sources and health risks of atmospheric PM 10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on residents living in different regions of Ahvaz, Southwest Iran were investigated during 2016-2017. 84 samples were taken from the different regions: (S1) industrial; (S2) high traffic and (S3) residential sites in Ahvaz metropolitan. Urinary samples were collected from people who came to the east health center of Ahvaz. Urinary 1hydroxypyrene and PAHs levels were analyzed by Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Exposure and risk assessment (Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR), Lifetime Average Daily Dose (LADD) and hazard index (HI)) of these pollutants were estimated, using USEPA's exposure parameters. Results of this study showed that in the air of residential and industrial areas observed the lowest and the highest level of PAHs, respectively. High molecular weight compounds (2-4rings), contributed to 85% of P PAHs mass in the atmospheric PM 10-bound samples. Industrial processing and petroleum refining, were identified to be major outdoor resources of PAHs. Based on the result of this study, the highest and the lowest concentration of PAHs metabolites were observed in the industrial and residential areas. Average urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels of S1, S2 and S3 regions were 0.4735; 1.311 and 1.4942 ng/dL, respectively. The values of ILCR in cold (0.06913) and warm (0.052854) seasons were higher than EPA which, was significantly correlated with the concentration of PAHs. In conclusion, increasing exposure concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would have a significant potential for increased ILCR and risk of health endpoint. ILCR in different areas was significantly higher than standard. Our results show that the air quality of Ahvaz city was in an unfavorable condition and increasing exposure concentration of PAHs would have a significant potential for increased ILCR and risk of diseases.
We investigated the carcinogenic and mutagenic respiratory health risks related to the exposure to atmospheric PAHs in an urban area. Our study focused in the association of these pollutants and their possible effect in human health, principally respiratory and circulatory diseases. Also, we determined a relationship between the inhalation risk of PAHs and meteorological conditions. We validated the hypothesis that in winter PAHs with high molecular weight associated to submicron particles (PM 1) may increase exposure risk, especially for respiratory diseases, bronchitis and pneumonia diseases. Moreover, in our study we verified the relationship between diseases and several carcinogenic PAHs (Ind, BbkF, DahA, BaP, and BghiP). These individual PAHs contributed the most to the potential risk of exposure for inhalation of PM 1.0. Even at lower ambient concentrations of BaP and DahA in comparison with individual concentrations of other PAHs associated to PM 1.0. Mainly, research suggests to include carcinogenic and mutagenic PAHs in future studies of environmental health risk due to their capacity to associate to PM 10. Such carcinogenic and mutagenic PAHs are likely to provide the majority of the human exposure, since they originate from dense traffic urban areas were humans congregate.
Atmospheric particulate and gaseous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) samples were collected from an urban area in Dokki (Giza) during the summer of 2007 and the winter of 2007-2008. The average concentrations of PAHs were 1429.74 ng/m 3 in the particulate phase, 2912.56 ng/m 3 in the gaseous phase and 4342.30 ng/m 3 in the particulate + gaseous phases during the period of study. Dokki has high level concentrations of PAH compounds compared with many polluted cities in the world. The concentrations of PAH compounds in the particulate and gaseous phases were higher in the winter and lower in the summer. Total concentrations of PAHs in the particulate phase and gaseous phase were 22.58% and 77.42% in summer and 36.97% and 63.03% in winter of the total (particulate + gaseous) concentrations of PAHs, respectively. The gaseous/particulate (G/P) ratios of PAHs concentration were 3.43 in summer and 1.71 in winter. Significant negative correlation coefficients were found between the ambient temperature and concentrations of the total PAHs in the particulate and gaseous phases. The distribution of individual PAHs and different categories of PAHs based on aromatic ring number in the particulate and gaseous phases during the summer and winter were nearly similar, indicating similar emission sources of PAHs in both two seasons. Benzo(b)fluoranthene in the particulate phase and naphthalene in the gaseous phase were the most abundant compounds. Diagnostic concentration ratios of PAH compounds indicate that these compounds are emitted mainly from pyrogenic sources, mainly local vehicular exhaust emissions. Health risks associated with the inhalation of individual PAHs in particulate and gaseous phases were assessed on the basis of its benzo(a)pyrene equivalent concentration (BaP eq). Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene in the particulate phase and benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(a)anthracene in the gaseous phase were the greatest contributors to the total health risks. The mean contributions of the total carcinogenic activity of all PAHs to the total concentrations of PAHs were 29.37% and 25.15% in the particulate phase and 0.76% and 0.92% in the gaseous phase during the summer and winter, respectively. These results indicate that PAHs in the particulate phase in the ambient air of Dokki may pose a potential health risk.