Workers in coal-fired power plants are at a high risk of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their halogenated derivatives (HPAHs), yet no studies have investigated such exposure of HPAHs. In this study, 12 PAHs and 8 chlorinated PAHs, but no brominated PAHs, were detected in >80% of serum samples from workers of a coal-fired power plant in eastern China. Serum HPAH concentrations were higher in plant workers (16–273 ng/g lipid) than in people without occupational exposure (12–51 ng/g lipid), and serum PAH and HPAH concentrations both in male and female workers were positively correlated with the occupational exposure duration, with an estimated doubling time of 11–17 years. Correlations were found between concentrations of ∑8HPAHs and ∑12PAHs but not between 7-chlorobenz­[a]­anthracene (7-ClBaA) and 1-chloropyrene (1-ClPyr) and their respective parent PAHs. In males, total concentrations of PAHs and HPAHs were positively correlated with pulmonary hypofunction and hypertension but not with abnormal electrocardiogram. The benzo­[a]­pyrene equivalents ratio of ∑8HPAHs/∑12PAHs was 0.3 ± 0.1. Among the HPAHs in the serum, 9-chlorophenanthrene, 7-ClBaA, and 1-ClPyr showed high health risks. This study is the first report on HPAH exposure in coal-fired power plant workers and provides new evidence on the health risks of PAHs and HPAHs in humans.

Halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPAHs) have attracted extensive concern since their high toxicity and bioaccumulation. However, there has been no report on the content of HPAHs in human tissues and...