Pollution level, source, and health risk assessment of PAHs in food products and environmental media in Nantong, China: A pilot case

Abstract

The following study is an analysis of the pollution characteristics, dietary intake levels, and health effects of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in vegetables, fruits, and meat products in Nantong City, China. The PAHs content, pollution level, carcinogenic risk, and correlation of soil and local atmospheric environment in the crop irrigation area were determined. A total of agricultural products (n = 42), soil samples (n = 18), and air samples (n = 42) were freshly collected from selected irrigation areas in Nantong to detect the content of 16 US EPA PAHs. The total contents of PAHs in vegetables, fruits, and meat products were 16.4 − 136.5 ng/g, 86.0 − 225.1 ng/g, and 0.1 − 23.4 ng/g, respectively. Phe (32.00 −37.24%) and Pyr (27.25 −28.79%) were two PAHs with the highest pollution. The total contents of 16 PAHs in both soil and air were 31.5 − 288.2 ng/g and 1.08 − 28.85 ng/m3, respectively. The single PAHs with the highest pollution were BaP (36.48%) and Flu (21.45%). The characteristic ratio analysis method was used to trace the source of PAHs. Accordingly, PAHs in the three types of food sources primarily originated from the burning of coal, oil or biomass, and was consistent with the air or soil pollution sources. The total exposure to PAHs in vegetables, fruits, and meat products was 18.81 − 66.82 ng/d, 5.69 − 8.62 ng/d, and 0.82 − 2.45 ng/d, respectively. The lifetime incremental carcinogenic risk was 4.20 × 10−7 − 6.41 × 10−6, 1.0 × 10−7 − 7.8 × 10−7, and 1.9 × 10−8 − 2.0 × 10−7, which corresponds to a relatively low−risk level. In comparison, the total exposure of soil and air were 4.15 × 10−7 − 1.54 × 10−6 mg·kg−1·d−1 and 2.71 × 10−6 − 1.40 × 10−5 mg·kg−1·d−1, respectively, and the non−carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk of soil were 3.07 × 10−5 − 1.21 × 10−4 and 1.09 × 10−8 − 3.98 × 10−8, respectively. The carcinogenic risk of air was 8.42 × 10−6 − 4.35 × 10−5, indicating that the risk of cancer is within the acceptable range; however, it cannot be ignored.