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Concentrations, spatial distribution, and human health risk assessment of asbestos fibers in ambient air of Tehran, Iran

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Abstract

The aim of current research was to determine airborne asbestos fiber concentrations in the ambient air of Tehran, and to investigate their spatial distribution, seasonal variation, and human health risk assessment. For this, the sampling of the study was carried out during August 2017 and June 2018, and totally, 64 samples were taken from 8 stations along the different areas of Tehran. The concentrations of airborne asbestos fibers were determined by phase contrast microscope (PCM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. Spatial mapping was conducted using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) technique. The health risk assessment was done based on the detected levels of airborne asbestosis fibers. The mean concentrations of the airborne asbestos fiber were 1.9 × 10−3 f/ml and 595 × 10−3 f/ml based on PCM and SEM analyses, respectively. One of the effective factors on ambient level of asbestos fibers is meteorological parameters, where the maximum and minimum concentrations of asbestos fibers are related to cold and warm seasons, respectively. These differences could be due to the presence of inversions phenomenon in cold seasons in Tehran. It was observed that the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) calculated for all the sampling areas are between 5.26 × 10−5 and 5.37 × 10−4. Based on the EPA-suggested standards (10−4–10−6), these values are categorized rather to moderate levels. The obtained data indicated no threat of asbestos fibers to Tehran’s citizens’ health.

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Funding

For this study, the authors received financial and technical support (Grant No. 96-02-212-31563) from Iran University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Environmental Health Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Majid Kermani, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Mitra Gholami & Farhad Taghizadeh

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Majid Kermani, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Mitra Gholami & Farhad Taghizadeh

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

    Hossein Arfaeinia

  4. Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

    Hossein Arfaeinia

  5. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Deputy of Health, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran

    Yousef Abdolsalami

  6. Air Quality and Climate Change Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Shahsavani

  7. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Shahsavani

Authors
  1. Majid Kermani
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  2. Ahmad Jonidi Jafari
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  3. Mitra Gholami
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  4. Farhad Taghizadeh
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  5. Hossein Arfaeinia
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  6. Yousef Abdolsalami
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  7. Abbas Shahsavani
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Farhad Taghizadeh or Hossein Arfaeinia.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Amjad Kallel

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Kermani, M., Jafari, A.J., Gholami, M. et al. Concentrations, spatial distribution, and human health risk assessment of asbestos fibers in ambient air of Tehran, Iran. Arab J Geosci 14, 1929 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07149-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07149-5

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