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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Indoor Air and Dust in Kuwait: Implications for Sources and Nondietary Human Exposure

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Abstract

This study reports concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor air and dust samples collected from 24 homes in Kuwait. Mean ΣPAHs in indoor air ranged from 1.3 to 16 ng/m3 with a geometric mean of 5.6 ng/m3, whereas the dust concentrations varied over three orders of magnitude, from 3 to 2920 ng/g, with a geometric mean of 165 ng/g. The low-molecular-weight tricyclic and tetracyclic PAHs dominated the air profile constituting ∼70–90 % of the measured compounds, with phenanthrene (51%), fluorene (13 %), fluoranthere (8 %), and pyrene (7 %) being the major contributors. The PAH profile in dust was dominated by the high-molecular-weight PAHs, with three compounds (benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and benzo[b]fluoranthene) contributing ∼60% of the average ΣPAHs measured in the samples. Indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratios for individual compounds were <1 for the majority of compounds, suggesting that there were no significant indoor sources for these compounds in these homes.

Using the measured concentrations in air and dust, together with estimates of inhalation and inadvertent dust ingestion rates for children and adults, estimated human nondietary exposure on a BaPequiv basis were 547 pg/kg body weight/day and 205 pg/kg body weight/day for children and adults, respectively. Exposure from dust ingestion contributes about 42% of nondietary intake of ΣPAHs in children, but only 11% for adults. The threefold difference in exposure estimates between children and adults in this study supports previous reports that children are at greater risk from pollutants that accumulate indoors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the management of Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research for funding this research. We also extend our appreciation to Tom Harner for useful discussions on the sampling rates of the devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, 13109, Safat, Kuwait

    Bondi Gevao, Majed Al-Bahloul, Jamal Zafar, Khalid Al-Matrouk & Murad Helaleh

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  1. Bondi Gevao
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  2. Majed Al-Bahloul
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  3. Jamal Zafar
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  4. Khalid Al-Matrouk
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  5. Murad Helaleh
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Correspondence to Bondi Gevao.

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Gevao, B., Al-Bahloul, M., Zafar, J. et al. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Indoor Air and Dust in Kuwait: Implications for Sources and Nondietary Human Exposure. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 53, 503–512 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-006-0261-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-006-0261-6

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