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BTEX in Ambient Air of Zarand, the Industrial City in Southeast of Iran: Concentration, Spatio-temporal Variation and Health Risk Assessment

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Abstract

The existence of several industries in Zarand, a city in Southeastern Iran, caused challenges for the residents about air pollutants and associated health effects. In the present study, the concentration of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), spatio-temporal distribution and related health risks were evaluated. Passive samplers were used to collect 30 samples in the over the hot and cold periods in 2020. The ordinary Kriging method was used to predict the spatio-temporal distribution of BTEXs. Also, the Monte Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the related carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of BTEX for adults. The ranking of mean concentration of overall toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, and benzene followed as 82.49 ± 26.86, 30.91 ± 14.04, 4.75 ± 3.28, and 0.91 ± 0.18 µg/m3, respectively. The mean value of lifetime carcinogenic risk (LTCR) for residents related to benzene was 7.52 × 10− 6, indicating a negligible carcinogenic risk for them. Furthermore, the ranking of non-carcinogenic risk calculated through hazard quotient (HQ) for investigated BTEX compounds followed as xylene > benzene > toluene > ethylbenzene over the hot period and xylene > toluene > ethylbenzene over the cold period which all points had HQ < 1. Additionally, according to the findings of the sensitivity analysis, the concentration of benzene was the main contributor in increasing the carcinogenic risk. According to our results, it can be stated that the existence of several industries in the study area could not possibly occur the significant carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks to the adults residents in the study period. Human studies are recommended to determine definite results.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology of Kerman University of Medical Sciences under grant number 98001129 and the code of research ethics certificate IR.KMU.REC.1399.144. The authors would like to acknowledge the Environmental Health Engineering Research Center of Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, Jiroft, Iran

    Sobhan Maleky

  2. Environmental Health Engineering Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Maryam Faraji

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Maryam Faraji

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  1. Sobhan Maleky
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Maleky, S., Faraji, M. BTEX in Ambient Air of Zarand, the Industrial City in Southeast of Iran: Concentration, Spatio-temporal Variation and Health Risk Assessment. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 111, 25 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-023-03778-6

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