title: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in multimedia environment of Heshan coal district, Guangxi: distribution, source diagnosis and health risk assessment.
abstract: Mining activities are among the major culprits of the wide occurrences of soil and water pollution by PAHs in coal district, which have resulted in ecological fragilities and health risk for local residents. Sixteen PAHs in multimedia environment from the Heshan coal district of Guangxi, South China, were measured, aiming to investigate the contamination level, distribution and possible sources and to estimate the potential health risks of PAHs. The average concentrations of 16 PAHs in the coal, coal gangue, soil, surface water and groundwater were 5114.56, 4551.10, 1280.12 ng g(-1), 426.98 and 381.20 ng L(-1), respectively. Additionally, higher soil and water PAH concentrations were detected in the vicinities of coal or coal gangue dump. Composition analysis, isomeric ratio, Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis were performed to diagnose the potential sources of PAHs in different environmental matrices, suggesting the dominant inputs of PAHs from coal/coal combustion and coal gangue in the soil and water. Soil and water guidelines and the incremental lifetime risk (ICLR) were used to assess the health risk, showing that soil and water were heavily contaminated by PAHs, and mean ICLRcoal/coal-gangue and mean ICLRsoil were both significantly higher than the acceptable levels (1 × 10(-4)), posing high potential carcinogenic risk to residents, especially coal workers. This study highlights the environmental pollution problems and public health concerns of coal mining, particularly the potential occupational health hazards of coal miners exposed in Heshan.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Huan-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. 421456048@qq.com.|State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. 421456048@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xin-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Ze-Zhou
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.|State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Minnesota Supercomputer Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55415-1227, USA.
authors.forename: Dave A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Yuen
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Edward H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Sandy
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Ai-Guo
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Qian
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002273:Carcinogens / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D003031:Coal / Q000032:analysis; D003032:Coal Mining; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D000067572:Miners; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D003031:Coal; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Coal mining; Heshan, Guangxi Autonomous Region; Incremental lifetime risk (ICLR); Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); Principal component analysis (PCA)