Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Street Dust of Huanggang, Central China: Status, Sources and Human Health Risk Assessment

Jia Liu,Changlin Zhan,Li Zhang,Chengkai Qu,Hongxia Liu,Tianpeng Hu,Xinli Xing,Jiaquan Zhang

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2018.02.0048

Abstract

ABSTRACT Twenty-one street dust samples were collected in Huanggang City, Hubei Province, Central China. Sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Concentrations of ∑16PAHs ranged from 622.97 µg kg–1 to 4340.67 µg kg–1 with an average of 1862.10 µg kg–1. Among these PAHs, high-molecular-weight PAHs (four to six rings), which are the predominant PAH contributors in street dust, accounted for 55%–73% of the total PAHs. Mean concentrations of the PAHs among the four functional districts followed the order: education district > traffic area > business district > residential area. However, the individual PAH concentrations exhibited weak correlations with the total organic carbon. Based on the isomer ratios of the PAHs, biomass and coal combustion, and petroleum input were two key factors controlling PAH levels in this study. At a 95% confidence interval, the total incremental lifetime cancer risks for children, adolescents and adults approximated 10–6–1.5 × 10–5. These values were higher than the baseline value for acceptable risk (10–6), indicating a potential carcinogenic risk.

Highlights

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) refer to a group of lipophilic chemicals comprising two or more fused aromatic rings
City varied from 622.97 μg kg–1 (HG10) to 4340.67 μg kg–1 (HG07) with an average of 1862.10 μg kg–1 (Table 1)
Similar to Guangzhou (China) (Wang et al, 2011), Tianjin (China) (Yu et al, 2014) and Bushehr (Iran) (Keshavarzi et al, 2017), high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs were dominant in street dust samples

Summary

Introduction

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) refer to a group of lipophilic chemicals comprising two or more fused aromatic rings. Hundreds of PAHs predominantly form from incomplete combustion or pyrolysis of organic matter from anthropogenic activities (Mastral and Callen, 2000). With the rapid development of industrialisation and urbanisation, PAHs have become ubiquitous environmental pollutants and caused serious contamination problems associated with continuously increasing emission (Xu et al, 2006; Xing et al, 2011). In China, PAHs mainly originate from emission of biomass burning, domestic coal combustion and coking industry (Xu et al, 2006). PAHs pose a significant concern to human health due to their high toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity (Boström et al, 2002). Under this consideration, 16 PAHs have been listed

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Conclusion