Characteristics and health risks of personal exposure to particle‐bound PAHs for Hong Kong adult residents: From ambient pollution to indoor exposure

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that 7.0 million global premature deaths are annually attributed to ambient and indoor air pollution, 1 and about 92% of the world population lives in areas with fine particle (PM 2.5 ) concentrations exceeding the WHO air quality guideline (annual mean: 10 μg/m 3 ). In addition, the adverse impacts of PM 2.5 components on human health-including toxic organic species (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) and transition metals-have also been well documented. 2,3 Epidemiological studies regarding air pollution and health effects are generally based on ambient concentrations measured from fixed regulatory stations. However, people spend a significant proportion (80%-90%) of their daily time in indoor microenvironments and up

Occurrence and Risk Assessment of Personal PM2.5-Bound Phthalates Exposure for Adults in Hong Kong

“…In brief, a punch (0.526–2.630 cm 2 ) of the exposed quartz filter was subjected to particle-phase organic compound determination (including phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)), employing the thermal desorption–gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (TD–GC/MS) method [ 30 ]. Our findings for health risks of PAHs were reported separately [ 28 ].…”

“…Figure 1 a illustrates the study design using a flowchart. Characteristics of the study subjects have been described in detail in another publication [ 28 ]. In brief, 79 adults were recruited, and 71% (56) agreed to participate in the personal PM 2.5 measurement in the summer and winter seasons between June 2014 and March 2016 [ 29 ].…”

“…Personal exposure, residential indoor, and outdoor PM 2.5 samples were collected as described in a previous publication [ 28 ]. Individual PM 2.5 samples were collected using a personal environmental monitor (PEM) connected to a Leland Legacy pump.…”

“…In addition, outdoor PM 2.5 samples were collected concurrently at fixed sites in the same district as residential indoors, with 63 sets of outdoor PM 2.5 samples collected ( Figure 1 b). More details and a discussion concerning the three outdoor locations are described in [ 28 ] and the Supplementary Materials (Table S1) .…”

“…PAEs on filter samples were detected along with blanks, and the reported PAE congener concentrations were corrected by subtracting average blank values. Sample preparation (e.g., quartz filters preheated at 900 °C for 3 h), after sampling storage (e.g., at –4 °C), chemical analyses, and the corresponding quality assurance/quality control protocols have been reported previously [ 28 ].…”