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Spatio-temporal variation and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface dust of Qom metropolis, Iran

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Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine seasonal variation, distribution, potential health risk, and source identification of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the surface dust of eight urban areas of Qom. The total levels of 16 PAHs ranged from 364.83 to 739.26 ng g−1, with an average of 478.27 ng g−1. Sites 1 and 8 showed the highest (491.33 ng g−1) and lowest (465.08 ng g−1) concentrations of PAHs, respectively. The PAHs demonstrated the highest and the lowest levels in autumn (553.41 ng g−1) and summer (402.30 ng g−1), respectively. Naphthalene (Nap) showed the highest amounts in all of the areas (75.57 ng g−1). Source apportionment indicated that vehicular emissions and combustion of fossil fuels (liquid fossil fuel, crude oil, and gas) are the main sources of the PAHs. Toxic equivalency quantities (TEQs) index exhibited a mean concentration of 47.41 ng g−1, and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DBA) together contributed more than 80% of TEQ, indicating high risk potential of these compounds. Total incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) presented higher value (2.62 × 10−7) for children than for adults (2.53 × 10−7), one-fold lower than the threshold (10−6). The spatial ILCR for the study areas and seasons showed the highest cancer risk in site 2 and winter. Taken together, the carcinogenic risk of PAHs to children and adults, respectively, through direct ingestion and dermal contact pathways illustrated values close to the baseline, suggesting that more attention should be paid to the issue in the study area.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Tarbiat Modares University of Iran. Special thanks are due to Claudio A. Belis for his critical review of the manuscript. Our appreciation is extended to “Hamid Salari Joo” for his Academic English Language Editing Service during the preparation of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Science, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box 46414-356, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran

    Morteza Davoudi, Abbas Esmaili-Sari & Nader Bahramifar

  2. Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Mazaher Moeinaddini

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  1. Morteza Davoudi
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  2. Abbas Esmaili-Sari
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Davoudi, M., Esmaili-Sari, A., Bahramifar, N. et al. Spatio-temporal variation and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface dust of Qom metropolis, Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 9276–9289 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08863-5

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