Characterization and risk assessment of BTEX in ambient air of a Middle Eastern City

In the area of a petrochemical industrial site, ten monitoring stations are established to determine the airborne pollutants that are emitted, which include criteria air pollutants and 54 species of ozone formation precursors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The hourly pollutants are increased by human activities, such as traffic flow after 7:00 a.m., and ozone becomes more abundant as solar radiation increases in intensity. Monthly air pollutants are present in low concentrations during the rainy season from May to September and in high concentrations from October to April. Results show that VOC concentrations are low in the summer (average concentration 5.7–5.9 ppb) and more than double in the winter (11–12 ppb), with 52–63% alkanes, 18–24% aromatics, 11–22% alkenes and 4.7–7.1% alkynes. Ethane, toluene, propane, n-butane, ethylene and acetylene are the major VOCs, with an annual average concentration exceeding 0.50 ppb. In 2016–2020, the VOC concentration is decreased from 10.1 to 7.73 ppb, corresponding to the ozone formation potential (OFP) decrease from 84 to 61 μg-O3 m−3, with toluene, m,p-xylene, ethylene and propene being the most abundant species. The primary VOC sources are petrochemical industry sites, fuel combustion, vehicle exhaust emissions and evaporation, solvent application, industrial facilities and emission from farming vegetation.

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“…high BTEX content at this station (shown as Figure S3), which is consistent with the results of a previous study [74].…”

Section: Voc Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This figure is attributed to hydrocarbon sources: primarily refineries and exhausts [70]. Sampling point D4 was next to a highway, so automobiles are the most likely cause of the high BTEX content at this station (shown as Figure S3), which is consistent with the results of a previous study [74].…”

Section: Voc Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 89%

Characteristics of Airborne Pollutants in the Area of an Agricultural–Industrial Complex near a Petrochemical Industry Facility

et al. 2023

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“…Figure 4 shows that in the summer of 2020, unexpected growth of concentration levels of Toluene occurred, which was also unprecedented in Amini et al ( 2017 ) examinations. It is noteworthy that factors such as evaporation and temperature inversion have been mentioned before as influential phenomena involved in increasing VOCs concentration (Abbasi et al 2020 ; Maleki et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variations, photochemical characteristics, health risk assessment and mid pandemic changes of ambient BTEX in a west Asian metropolis

Dehhaghi

Hasankhani

Taheri

2023

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

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This study examined the concentration of BTEX in Tehran from 2018 to 2020 in five monitoring stations with different backgrounds, which has been accomplished using the combination of passive sampling and GC-FID method. The total concentration of BTEX was estimated to be 65.39 (µg/m 3 ), with a higher average concentration in 2019–2020 (77.79 µg/m 3 ) compared to 2018–2019 (53.48 µg/m 3 ) due to the leaping concentration of Toluene in the pandemic era. Despite a Benzene concentration decline in recent years, the average annual concentration of Benzene (5.66 µg/m 3 ) at five stations remained higher than the EU commission and India standards (5 µg/m 3 ) as well as Japan and Iraq thresholds (3 µg/m 3 ). Toluene dominated other species in terms of concentrations, mass distribution (~0.6%), followed by m,p–Xylene (~0.2%), Benzene (~0.05–0.1) and Ethylbenzene (< 0.05). The evidence regarding seasonal changes of BTEX in 2019 shows the maximum concentration of these compounds in autumn, which is probably due to heavier traffic compared to other seasons. In contrast, in the first half of 2020 (which encompasses the start of the pandemic period and urban lockdown), point sources seem to play a prominent role in concentration fluctuations, as confirmed by changes in interspecies relationships and lower traffic congestion. The highest mean concentrations were observed in high-traffic, residential and suburban sites, respectively. The study reveals that m,p-Xylene possess the highest Ozone formation potential (~109.46), followed by Toluene (~85.34), o-Xylene (~46.87), Ethylbenzene (~13.52) and Benzene (~2.61). Health risk assessment results indicated the high carcinogenic risk of Benzene (mean = 3.6 × 10 –6 ) and the acceptable non-carcinogenic risk of BTEX (hazard index~0.03 < specified limit of 1). Finally, the estimated weighted exposures of BTEX emphasized that residents near the high-traffic districts are more exposed to BTEX. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00477-023-02476-3.

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“…Then, calculator raster function was utilized for overlaying each layer and generating the seasonal mean maps of the asbestos levels. IDW method has been used so far in different environmental researches for mapping the distribution of environmental pollutants including particulate matters, ozone, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) (Faridi et al 2019;Abbasi et al 2020). It is indeed a nonstatistical method which is typically used for predicting the pollutants' level in unmeasured points through optimal special prediction technique.…”

Section: Preparation and Analysis Of The Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentrations, spatial distribution, and human health risk assessment of asbestos fibers in ambient air of Tehran, Iran

et al. 2021

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The aim of current research was to determine airborne asbestos fiber concentrations in the ambient air of Tehran, and to investigate their spatial distribution, seasonal variation, and human health risk assessment. For this, the sampling of the study was carried out during August 2017 and June 2018, and totally, 64 samples were taken from 8 stations along the different areas of Tehran. The concentrations of airborne asbestos fibers were determined by phase contrast microscope (PCM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. Spatial mapping was conducted using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) technique. The health risk assessment was done based on the detected levels of airborne asbestosis fibers. The mean concentrations of the airborne asbestos fiber were 1.9 × 10 −3 f/ml and 595 × 10 −3 f/ml based on PCM and SEM analyses, respectively. One of the effective factors on ambient level of asbestos fibers is meteorological parameters, where the maximum and minimum concentrations of asbestos fibers are related to cold and warm seasons, respectively. These differences could be due to the presence of inversions phenomenon in cold seasons in Tehran. It was observed that the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) calculated for all the sampling areas are between 5.26 × 10 −5 and 5.37 × 10 −4 . Based on the EPA-suggested standards (10 −4 -10 −6 ), these values are categorized rather to moderate levels. The obtained data indicated no threat of asbestos fibers to Tehran's citizens' health.

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Characterization and risk assessment of BTEX in ambient air of a Middle Eastern City

Cited by 44 publications

References 42 publications

Characteristics of Airborne Pollutants in the Area of an Agricultural–Industrial Complex near a Petrochemical Industry Facility

Characteristics of Airborne Pollutants in the Area of an Agricultural–Industrial Complex near a Petrochemical Industry Facility

Spatiotemporal variations, photochemical characteristics, health risk assessment and mid pandemic changes of ambient BTEX in a west Asian metropolis

Concentrations, spatial distribution, and human health risk assessment of asbestos fibers in ambient air of Tehran, Iran

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