Issue 12, 2010

Effect of dibenzopyrene measurement on assessing air quality in Beijing air and possible implications for human health

Abstract

Size fractionated particulate matter (PM) was collected in summer and winter from Beijing, China for the characterization of an expanded list of PAHs and evaluation of air pollution metrics. Summertime ΣPAHs on PM was 14.6 ± 29PM1.5, 0.88 ± 0.49PM1.5–7.2 and 0.29 ± 0.076PM7.2 ng m−3 air while wintertime concentrations were 493 ± 206PM1.5, 26.7 ± 14PM1.5–7.2 and 5.3 ± 2.5PM7.2 ng m−3 air. Greater than 90% of the carcinogenic PAHs were concentrated on PM1.5. Dibenzopyrene isomers made up a significant portion (∼30%) of the total carcinogenic PAH load during the winter. To our knowledge, this is the first report of dibenzopyrenes in the Beijing atmosphere and among the few studies that report these highly potent PAHs in ambient particulate matter. Lifetime risk calculations indicated that 1 out of 10 000 to over 6 out of 100 Beijing residents may have an increased risk of lung cancer due to PAH concentration. Over half of the lifetime risk was attributed to Σdibenzopyrenes. The World Health Organization and Chinese daily PM10 standard was exceeded on each day of the study, however, PAH limits were only exceeded during the winter. The outcomes of the air pollution metrics were highly dependent on the individual PAHs measured and seasonal variation.

Graphical abstract: Effect of dibenzopyrene measurement on assessing air quality in Beijing air and possible implications for human health

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Mar 2010
Accepted
03 Sep 2010
First published
22 Oct 2010

J. Environ. Monit., 2010,12, 2290-2298

Effect of dibenzopyrene measurement on assessing air quality in Beijing air and possible implications for human health

J. Layshock, S. M. Simonich and K. A. Anderson, J. Environ. Monit., 2010, 12, 2290 DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00057D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements