title: Characteristics, sources, and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban surface dust: a case study of the city of Xi'an in Northwest China.
abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants. Urban surface dust is an important carrier of PAHs. To investigate the characteristics, sources, and health risk of PAHs in urban surface dust, this study collected urban surface dust samples from Xi'an, the largest city in Northwest China and one of the cities with severe smog occurrences in China. The total concentration of 16 US EPA priority PAHs (∑16PAHs) ranged from 5.0 to 48 mg/kg, with an average of 14 mg/kg. The seven carcinogenic PAHs accounted for 21 to 65 % of the ∑16PAHs. Higher levels of PAHs were found in its industrial, traffic, and mixed commercial and traffic districts. The PAHs were dominated by four-ring PAHs, and the predominant components were Fla, Phe, Chy, and Pyr. Multivariate statistical analyses showed that the PAHs originated mainly from the combustion of fossil fuel as well as coal and wood, and petroleum emission. The toxic equivalency quantities (TEQs) of urban surface dustborne PAHs ranged from 0.25 to 8.3 mg/kg, with a mean of 1.8 mg/kg. The 95 % upper confidence limit of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) due to human exposure to urban surface dustborne PAHs was 8.2 × 10(-5) for children and 7.3 × 10(-5) for adults.
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China. wanglijun@snnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY, 13201, USA.
authors.forename: Wendong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY, 13201, USA.
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Smardon
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
authors.forename: Xingmin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
authors.forename: Xinwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003031:Coal; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D009369:Neoplasms; D010578:Petroleum; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014934:Wood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002273:Carcinogens; D003031:Coal; D004391:Dust; D010578:Petroleum; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
keywords: Characteristic; Health risk; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon; Source; Urban surface dust