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Assessment of incremental lifetime cancer risks of ambient air PM10-bound PAHs in oil-rich cities of Iran

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Abstract

This study investigates the concentrations of PM10-bound PAHs and their seasonal variations in three cities of Ahvaz, Abadan, and Asaluyeh in Iran. The mean concentrations of PM10 in two warm and cold seasons in Ahvaz were higher and in Abadan and Assaluyeh were lower than the national standard of Iran and the guidelines of the World Health Organization. The Σ16 PAHs concentration in ambient air PM10 during the cold season in Ahvaz, Abadan and Asaluyeh was 244.6, 633, and 909 ng m− 3, respectively, and during the warm season in Ahvaz, Abadan, and Asaluyeh was 242.1, 1570 and 251 ng m− 3, respectively. The high molecular weight PAHs were the most predominant components. The most abundant PAHs species were Pyr, Chr, B [ghi] P, and Flt. The results showed that the total PAHs concentration in the cold and warm seasons was dependent on industrial activities, particularly the neighboring petrochemical units of the city, vehicular exhausts, traffic and use of oil, gas, and coal in energy production. The total cancer risk values as a result of exposure to PAHs in ambient air PM10 in all three cities for children and adults and in both cold and warm seasons were between 1 × 10− 6 and 1 × 10− 4, and this indicates a potential carcinogenic risk. Therefore, considering the various sources of air pollutants and its role on people’s health, decision makers should adopt appropriate policies on air quality to reduce the ambient air PAHs and to mitigate human exposure.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Environmental Technologies Research Center (ETRC), Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS) for the financial support of this grant project (ETRC-9401). The authors would also like to thank the people who are responsible for Abadan Refinery and Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) for helping us to take samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Technologies Research Center (ETRC), Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Gholamreza Goudarzi, Yaser Tahmasebi Birgani, Abdolkazem Neisi, Ali Akbar Babaei & Kambiz Ahmadi Angali

  2. Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Gholamreza Goudarzi, Yaser Tahmasebi Birgani, Abdolkazem Neisi, Ali Akbar Babaei, Kambiz Ahmadi Angali & Neda Kayedi

  3. School of Medical Sciences, Khoy Faculty of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Iran

    Zeynab Baboli, Bayram Hashemzadeh & Hassan Dehdari Rad

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Behbahan faculty of Medical Sciences, Behbahan, Iran

    Zeynab Baboli

  5. School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Maliheh Moslemnia & Meimanat Tobekhak

  6. Department of Marine Chemistry, Faculty of Marine Science, Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology, Khorramshahr, Iran

    Kamal Ghanemi

  7. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Sina Dobaradaran

  8. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Zahra Ramezani

  9. Nanotechnology Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Zahra Ramezani

  10. Center for Air Pollution Research (CAPR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mahammad Sadegh Hassanvand

Authors
  1. Gholamreza Goudarzi
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  2. Zeynab Baboli
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Correspondence to Zeynab Baboli.

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Goudarzi, G., Baboli, Z., Moslemnia, M. et al. Assessment of incremental lifetime cancer risks of ambient air PM10-bound PAHs in oil-rich cities of Iran. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 19, 319–330 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00605-6

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