Health risk assessments of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated/brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban air particles in a haze frequent area in China

Abstract

Abstract The potential threats of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and chlorinated/brominated PAHs (Cl/Br-PAHs) to human health from particulate matter in the urban ambient air were studied using human health risk assessments. The risk to human health caused by exposure to PAHs was evaluated in Shijiazhuang, China, from January to December 2018. The PAHs concentration range was 16.02–475.21 ng/m3 and the toxic equivalent was 13.605 ng/m3. For adults, the average carcinogenic risk caused by respiratory exposure was 5.163 × 10−6 and the resulting loss of life expectancy was 32.10 min. The human health risks of respiratory exposure to Cl/Br-PAHs in atmospheric samples from the Haidian District, Beijing, China, were evaluated from November 2017 to July 2018. The concentration ranges for the Cl- and Br-PAHs were 60.38–482.17 pg/m3 and 1.32–25.35 pg/m3, respectively. The average carcinogenic equivalent concentrations were 0.3274 pg/m3 and 0.0061 pg/m3 for the Cl- and Br-PAHs, respectively. For adults the average carcinogenic risks caused by respiratory exposure were 1.243 × 10−10 and 2.316 × 10−12 for the Cl- and Br-PAHs, respectively. The resulting loss of life expectancy values were 0.001 min (Cl-PAHs) and 0.00 min (Br-PAHs). The pollution concentrations and toxic equivalents of the Cl/Br-PAHs in Beijing and of the PAHs in Shijiazhuang both showed toxicity was high in the winter. The average carcinogenic risk for exposure of adults to PAHs in Shijiazhuang was low with certain potential hazards. The concentration of Cl-PAHs in Beijing was higher than that of Br-PAHs, and the average carcinogenic risk for exposure of adults to Cl/Br-PAHs was very low with slight harm.