Organization of monitoring of carcinogens in the atmospheric air of the city and assessment of the health risk

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the carcinogenic risk to the health of the population of an industrialized city, caused by the probable presence of carcinogens in the ambient air. The results of laboratory control of the content of carcinogens in the atmospheric air of the city of Voronezh for 2017–2020 were used as the initial data. The carcinogenic risk was assessed in accordance with the provisions of Guideline R. 2.1.10.1920–04 «Guidelines for assessing the risk to public health when exposed to chemicals that pollute the environment.» Taking into account the regional peculiarities of the composition of pollutant emissions into the atmospheric air, 1,3-butadiene (source — production of synthetic rubber) should be classified as priority carcinogens requiring systematic monitoring and measures to reduce the volume of emissions and, accordingly, concentrations in the surface layer of atmospheric air and chromium 6+ compounds (the main source is an aircraft plant). These substances, depending on the territory (transport or industrial), contribute 69.9–75.7 % and 21.7–26.9 %, respectively, to the total values of the individual carcinogenic risk (from 4.27 × 10 –3 to 4.90 × 10 –3 for the adult population, from 3.38 × 10 –4 to 3.82 × 10 –4 for children 6 years old). For the rest of the laboratory controlled carcinogens (formaldehyde, lead, soot, styrene), the risks do not exceed the maximum permissible value. It was found that the territorial coverage of the urban area of Voronezh by monitoring the content of carcinogens in the atmospheric air (5 stationary and 5 route observation posts) and the number of laboratory-determined carcinogens (6 out of 18 taken into account in the projects of maximum permissible emissions of enterprises) is insufficient to obtain reliable information on the value carcinogenic risk to public health. To reduce the associated uncertainties in assessing the carcinogenic risk, further studies of the content of 8 carcinogens (1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, lead, carbon black, chromium 6+, benzene, benz/a/pyrene, styrene) are planned at 13 additional control points of the urban area.