Environmental versus dietary exposure to POPs and metals: A probabilistic assessment of human health risks

Abstract

The human health risks derived from the multipathway/multipollutant exposure to various chemicals were assessed in an area with significant petrochemical activity (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain). Environmental exposure to several Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PCNs, and PAHs) and metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mn, Pb, and V) was determined and compared with the dietary intake of these pollutants. The mean environmental exposure to organic pollutants ranged from 6.36 x 10(-6) ng WHO-TEQ kg(-1) day(-1) to 3.34 ng kg(-1) day(-1) for PCDD/Fs and PAHs, respectively. In turn, the minimum and maximum values of environmental exposure to metals corresponded to Cd (9.35 x 10(-8) mg kg(-1) day(-1)) and Mn (8.72 x 10(-5) mg kg(-1) day(-1)), respectively. Among the environmental exposure pathways, dermal absorption and soil ingestion were the most important pathways for POPs and metals, respectively. However, this exposure was notably lower than the dietary intake of these contaminants, with percentages of <2% for most of them. Considering cumulative effects, the current concentrations of micropollutants do not mean significant additional non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic human health risks. Notwithstanding, in order to consider the synergistic/antagonistic effects according to the target organ or mode-of-action, the development of alternative methodologies of risk assessment are necessary for a more accurate evaluation.

Risk of human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: A case study in Beijing, China

“…The cancer risk of inhalation exposure to PAHs for the Beijing population was lower than that reported in Taiwan (Chen and Liao, 2006) and Egypt (Khairy and Lohmann, 2013). However, the ILCR caused by PAHs for the Beijing population was considerably higher than that reported in the Spanish population (10 À9 e10 À7 ) (Linares et al, 2010). This study had several limitations, which should be considered when interpreting the findings.…”

“…In the U.S. population, L-PAHs (e.g., NAP, FLO, PHE, and PYR) were ingested mainly by inhalation (more than 97%), whereas BAP (as an important H-PAH) was ingested in the diet (more than 95%) (Shin et al, 2013). It was reported that about 98% of PAH exposure was in the diet route in Spain (Linares et al, 2010). These differences cannot be easily explained by our data, and therefore further in-depth studies are necessary.…”

Volatile organic compounds and bioaerosols in the vicinity of a municipal waste organic fraction treatment plant. Human health risks

“…The total cancer risk was estimated in 2.8, 2.3, and 3.3 10 −5 for the three evaluated scenarios (A, B and C, respectively), assuming that the carcinogenic risk of different pollutants is cumulative. Although it is well known that there may be synergistic/antagonistic effects among chemicals, cumulative risk can be used as a preliminary approach to assess the joint risks by summing individual risks (Linares et al 2010). Similarly, formaldehyde made the highest contribution to the total cancer risk, with percentages ranging from 78% to 87%.…”

“…However, the sum of risk values was only very slightly higher than 10 −5 , which has been defined as the maximum recommended excess of cancer risk (1/100,000 for lifetime-exposed individuals) by the Spanish legislation (MMA 2007). However, they are fully within the ranges (10 −6 to 10 −4 ) considered as acceptable by the US EPA (Linares et al 2010). A detailed evaluation of the health risks was performed in N1, where a pig farm is located very close to the plant, and SW3, where there is a recently built school.…”

Effect of fat content, casing type and smoking procedures on PAHs contents of Portuguese traditional dry fermented sausages

“…PAHs can be found in complex mixtures widely spread throughout the environment (Ishizaki et al, 2010) and, for this reason, humans are usually exposed to these carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds through inhalation, skin absorption and contaminated water and food consumption (Farhadian et al, 2011;Linares et al, 2010). Apart smokers, dietary intake represents the major source of human exposure to PAHs (Farhadian et al, 2011;Martí-Cid et al, 2008).…”