American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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Human Exposure Risk to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Case Study in Beijing, China

YANXIN YU, Qi Li, Hui Wang, Bin Wang, Xilong Wang, Aiguo Ren, Shu Tao, Beijing Normal University

Abstract Number: 39
Working Group: Aerosol Exposure

Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can cause adverse health effects on human health. The relative contributions of their two main intake routes (diet and inhalation) to population PAH exposure are still under discussion. We modeled the concentrations of diet and inhalation to the total PAH exposure for Beijing population in China, and and assess their human incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCR) using Mont Carlo Simulation, considering food consumption, breathing rate, human body weight, and concentrations of the 15 U.S. EPA priority-controlled PAHs in varied foods ambient air. The estimated median daily total exposure levels (ETs) of th sum of low-molecular weight PAHs (ΣL-PAHs), sum of high-molecular weight PAHs (H-PAHs), sum of the 15 PAHs (ΣPAH$_(15)), and benzo[a]pyrene equivlent PAH (BAP$_(eq)) were 1.93×10$^4, 2.37×10$^3, 2.16×10$^4, and 7.97×10$^2 ng person$^(-1) d$^(-1), respectively. Diet mainly accounted for the L-PAH exposure (84.7% for ΣL-PAHs), while inhalation mainly for the H-PAH (57.4% for ΣL-PAHs). Meat and cereals were the main contributors to dietary PAH exposure. Gaseous- and particulate-phase PAHs both contributed to the inhaled doses of L-PAHs, whereas inhaled doses of H-PAHs were almost exclusively from particulate-phase PAHs. About 3.4% of Beijing population with ILCR of the total PAH exposure was above the serious risk level (10$^(-4)) and almost 90% of them above the acceptable risk level (10$^(-6)). Protective measures to control L-PAHs levels in foods should be taken in Beijing, and more importantly, greater attention should be paid for the inhaled particulate-phase PAHs with more carcinogenic potential for reducing population cancer incidence.