Health Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures: Current Practices and Future Directions

Flowers, Lynn; Rieth, Susan; Cogliano, Vincent; Foureman, Gary L.; Hertzberg, Richard C.; Hofmann, E. L.; Murphy, Deirdre L.; Nesnow, Stephen; Schoeny, Rita

doi:10.1080/10406630290103960

Cited by 44 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Many PAHs are mutagenic and some are carcinogenic and these raise concerns over their occurrence in the environment (Flowers et al, 2002;Thorsen et al, 2004;Cornelissen et al, 2006). Due to their high hydrophobic properties, PAHs can be sorbed on atmospheric particles and thus transported over a long distance, being a source of diffuse pollution (Wilcke, 2007;Ravindra et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence, distribution, sources and toxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils from the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Bortey-Sam

Ikenaka

Nakayama

et al. 2014

Science of The Total Environment

105

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As a developing country, the economic and population growth rates in Ghana over the past few years have seen tremendous increase. The growing rate of industrialization is gradually leading to contamination and deterioration of the environment and pollution is likely to reach disturbing levels. Surface soil samples were collected randomly from 36 communities in the Kumasi metropolis, Ghana, to determine the concentrations, distribution, sources and toxic potential of emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) since no such comprehensive study has been conducted. The mean concentration of total PAHs in the surface soils in each community ranged from 14.78 at Ahinsan to 2084 ng/g dry weight at Adum with an average of 442.5 ± 527.2 ng/g dry weight. Diagnostic ratios and chemical mass balance models of the results showed that PAHs in surface soil samples from the study area were mainly from fuel combustion.Carcinogenic potency of PAHs load from the city centre was approximately 150 times higher as compared to a pristine site, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology's Botanical Garden. BaP, a human carcinogen, contributed 70% of the total PAHs toxicity level from the city centre of Kumasi.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence, distribution, sources and toxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils from the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Bortey-Sam

Ikenaka

Nakayama

et al. 2014

Science of The Total Environment

105

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“…OM is made up of many different molecular structures and includes not only particulate organic carbon (OC), but also hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Both PM, a large fraction of which can be OM, and specific molecules that are part of OM, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), have been found to have health effects and to be carcinogenic (Larsen and Baker, 2003;Lobscheid and McKone, 2004;Adonis et al, 2003;Flowers et al, 2002). Together with BC, OM is the dominant component of the particulate fraction of vehicular exhaust (Schauer et al, 2002), which by itself has also been associated with health effects (Mauderly, 1994;Weingartner et al, 1997;Seagrave et al, 2006;Hiura et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in the OM/OC ratio of urban organic aerosol next to a major roadway

Brown

Lee

Roberts

et al. 2013

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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Understanding the organic matter/organic carbon (OM/OC) ratio in ambient particulate matter (PM) is critical to achieve mass closure in routine PM measurements, to assess the sources of and the degree of chemical processing organic aerosol particles have undergone, and to relate ambient pollutant concentrations to health effects. Of particular interest is how the OM/OC ratio varies in the urban environment, where strong spatial and temporal gradients in source emissions are common. We provide results of nearroadway high-time-resolution PM 1 OM concentration and OM/OC ratio observations during January 2008 at Fyfe Elementary School in Las Vegas, NV, 18 m from the U.S. 95 freeway soundwall, measured with an Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-AMS). The average OM/OC ratio was 1.54 (AE 0.20 standard deviation), typical of environments with a low amount of secondary aerosol formation. The 2-min average OM/OC ratios varied between 1.17 and 2.67, and daily average OM/OC ratios varied between 1.44 and 1.73. The ratios were highest during periods of low OM concentrations and generally low during periods of high OM concentrations. OM/OC ratios were low (1.52 AE 0.14, on average) during the morning rush hour (average OM ¼ 2.4 µg/m 3 ), when vehicular emissions dominate this near-road measurement site. The ratios were slightly lower (1.46 AE 0.10) in the evening (average OM ¼ 6.3 µg/m 3 ), when a combination of vehicular and fresh residential biomass burning emissions was typically present during times with temperature inversions. The hourly averaged OM/OC ratio peaked at 1.66 at midday. OM concentrations were similar, regardless of whether the monitoring site was downwind or upwind of the adjacent freeway throughout the day, though they were higher during stagnant conditions (wind speed < 0.5 m/sec). The OM/OC ratio generally varied more with time of day than with wind direction and speed.Implications: Day-to-day variability in the fine particle OM/OC ratio is quite large, suggesting that using a fixed OM/OC value in PM mass closure calculations, even one that changes seasonally, may be insufficient to achieve accurate mass closure on individual days. Health studies that rely on OC measurements may under-or overestimate exposure to OM, and converting OC to OM with a fixed OM/OC ratio represents a significant source of uncertainty; thus, air quality managers may not have sufficient information about the importance of OM contributions to PM 2.5 to make optimal regulatory decisions.

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“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have received much attention due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic potentials, and their ubiquitous presence in the environment (Flowers et al, 2002). PAHs enter the aquatic environment via industrial discharge, petroleum spills, combustion of fossil fuels, and various non-point source inputs such as agriculture, urban runoff, and atmospheric deposition (Yunker and Mcdonald, 2003;Ke et al, 2005;Cavalcante et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fingerprints in the Pichavaram mangrove–estuarine sediments, southeastern India

Ranjan

Routh

Ramanathan

et al. 2012

Organic Geochemistry

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The sources and historical deposition of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated in dated sediment cores from the Pichavaram mangrove-estuarine complex. The ΣPAH flux in mangrove and estuarine sediments are 0.064 ± 0.031 μg/cm 2 /yr and 0.043 ± 0.020 μg/cm 2 /yr, respectively. The PAH flux in sediments increases up-core coinciding with rapid urbanization since the 1970s. The flux shows a decrease in recent years (since 1990) coinciding with less riverine discharge, and perhaps more effective implementation of environmental regulations. The sediments are dominated by low molecular weight PAHs suggesting anthropogenic input. Ratios of specific PAH isomer pairs suggest higher input of petrogenic over pyrogenic derived PAHs. Notably, the deposition of high molecular weight PAHs increase in mangrove surface sediments was due to lignite and firewood combustion. Because of their overall low concentrations in sediments it is unlikely these PAHs pose an immediate ecological hazard.

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Health Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures: Current Practices and Future Directions

Cited by 44 publications

References 13 publications

Occurrence, distribution, sources and toxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils from the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Occurrence, distribution, sources and toxic potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface soils from the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Variations in the OM/OC ratio of urban organic aerosol next to a major roadway

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fingerprints in the Pichavaram mangrove–estuarine sediments, southeastern India

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