Abstract
Rio Grande is a medium-sized industrial city located in the extreme south of Brazil, and previous studies in this city have shown contamination by metal(loids) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water, soil, and sediment and in the atmosphere. In Brazil, the incorporation of PM2.5 monitoring in environmental legislation is recent (2018) and, like other developing countries, the number of studies is still small. This study aimed to investigate the levels of PM2.5 in the industrial and urban area of Rio Grande, to determine the concentration of metal(loid)s As, Cd, Cu, and Pb and of 16 PAHs in the samples of PM2.5, to perform the health risk assessment for these contaminants and the health impact assessment for two possible scenarios of reduction of PM2.5 levels. Our main findings regarding the PM2.5 samples include the following: (1) The levels of this pollutant in the city of Rio Grande were higher than those allowed in current Brazilian legislation, in both the industrial and urban areas; (2) the existence of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for metals present in all samples; (3) the absence of carcinogenic risk for the assessed PAHs; and (4) the reduction scenarios proposed pointed to a reduction of up to 22 deaths annually in conjunction with reductions in health-related expenditures. Thus, these results may serve as a basis for the development of public health policies aimed at improving air quality, jointly assisting health surveillance and directing future studies towards a better intrinsic approach to the problem.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current discussion are available and from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG).
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This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil, with the Finance Code 001, and by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Research Productivity Fellowship; Grant 307518/2019 (VMFV) and Grant 310856/2020–5 (FMRSJ)).
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RAT was responsible for preparing the first version of the manuscript text. RLB and JEKS were responsible for the risk assessment of the metal(loid)s. RBC and BM were responsible for the risk assessment of PAHs. PFR was responsible for the map elaboration and performed the health impact assessment and data review. VMFV and PRMB were responsible for acquiring financing, in addition to the infrastructure for chemical analysis. FMRSJ was the study supervisor. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Tavella, R.A., de Lima Brum, R., Ramires, P.F. et al. Health impacts of PM2.5-bound metals and PAHs in a medium-sized Brazilian city. Environ Monit Assess 194, 622 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10285-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10285-4