Current situation and health risk assessment of acetaminophen and chlorpheniramine maleate in urban house dust from Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

AbstractAcetaminophen and chlorpheniramine maleate are widely used as pain medications, they still have negative impacts on the environment as well as affect human health adversely. However, there are few studies evaluating levels of these medicals in airborne environments especially house dust. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate distribution, concentration and assess risk to human health of acetaminophen and chlorpheniramine maleate in house dust samples collected from 6 inner districts of Hanoi. Acetaminophen was found in 80 % house dust samples with an average concentration of 0.295 μg/g (ranging from 0.038 to 1.480 μg/g). Meanwhile, the average concentration of chlorpheniramine maleate was revealed much lower at 0.024 μg/g (ranging from 0.013 to 0.051 μg/g, the detection frequency of 80 %). Based on the measured concentrations, the acute daily intake doses of acetaminophen and chlorpheniramine maleate for adults and children were calculated to be 1.57 × 10‐1; 2.82 and 1.29 × 10‐2; 2.32 × 10‐1, respectively, the estimated values of Hazard Quotient (HQ) were 6.3 × 10‐7; 1.13 × 10‐5 and 4.04 × 10‐8; 7.24 × 10‐7, respectively. All HQ values of the pain relievers were < 1 for both adults and children, indicating the potential adverse effects to humans are negligible.