Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major pollutants in urban areas, and thus present a high risk to the resident health. However, studies on local PAH emissions and associated health risks related to urbanization are scarce. Here, the concentrations of PAHs were determined in 57 surface soil samples obtained from two rural districts in 2018 in Tianjin, China. The sources, risks, and the linkage between urbanization and PAH contamination of soils in 2018 were compared with PAH data in 2001 from a previous study to investigate the changes induced by urbanization. Results show an increase in PAH concentrations from 2001 to 2018, with in particular the predominance of anthracene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene. The major sources of soil PAHs changed from coal combustion 32.9%, petroleum sources 32.1%, and traffic sources 22.1% in 2001, to traffic sources 63.7%, and petroleum and biomass combustion 18.7% in 2018. The carcinogenic risk of soil PAHs to residents also increased from safe level to low level, and dermal contact was the prevailing pathway of PAH exposure. The increase in cancer risk is mainly due to the changes in PAH sources.
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modified from a study published by Wang et al. (2003)). Jizhou district is located in the north of Tianjin and adjacent to Hebei province, while Ninghe district is in the east of the city and close to the coastal new region. In 2001, there were 19 and 14 sample sites in Jizhou district and Ninghe district, respectively. In 2018, 28 and 29 sites were set for the sample collection in Jizhou district and Ninghe district, respectively. The sampling sites are indicated by the black dot. Tianjin coastal new region and industrial areas are marked in red dashed line and cyan, respectively
source in 2001 obtained from positive matrix factorization model. As shown in the figure, the identified sources include petroleum sources, traffic sources, biomass combustion, and coal combustion, accounting for 32.1, 22.1, 12.9, and 32.9% of the total PAHs, respectively. The NAP, ACE, FLO, ACY, PHE, ANT, FLA, PYR, CHR, BaA, BbF, BkF, BaP, and IcdP represent naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, respectively
source in 2018 obtained from positive matrix factorization model. As shown in the figure, the identified sources include petroleum and biomass combustion, coke production, traffic sources, and coal combustion, accounting for 18.7, 10.1, 63.7, and 7.6% of the total PAHs, respectively. The NAP, ACE, FLO, ACY, PHE, ANT, FLA, PYR, CHR, BaA, BbF, BkF, BaP, DahA, BghiP, and IcdP represent naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, respectively
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Acknowledgements
The present study was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFD0201201), Innovation project of CAAS, the Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (20151BAB213038 and 20161BAB213060), and Doctor Fund of East China University of Technology (DHBK2019257).
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Fan, Y., Zhao, Z., Shi, R. et al. Urbanization-related changes over the last 20 years in occurrence, sources, and human health risks of soil PAHs in rural Tianjin, China. Environ Chem Lett 19, 3999–4008 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01264-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01264-1