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Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gpol20
Investigation of Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons in a Populated Middle Eastern City
Gholamreza Goudarzi , Nadali Alavi , Ali Akbar Babaei , Sahar Geravandi ,
Esmaeil Idani , Shokrolah Salmanzadeh & Mohammad Javad Mohammadi
To cite this article: Gholamreza Goudarzi , Nadali Alavi , Ali Akbar Babaei , Sahar Geravandi ,
Esmaeil Idani , Shokrolah Salmanzadeh & Mohammad Javad Mohammadi (2020): Investigation of
Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Populated Middle Eastern City, Polycyclic Aromatic
Compounds, DOI: 10.1080/10406638.2020.1823857
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10406638.2020.1823857
Published online: 28 Sep 2020.
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Investigation of Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
in a Populated Middle Eastern City
Gholamreza Goudarzi
a,b
, Nadali Alavi
c
, Ali Akbar Babaei
b,d
, Sahar Geravandi
e
,
Esmaeil Idani
f
, Shokrolah Salmanzadeh
g
, and Mohammad Javad Mohammadi
a,h
a
Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences,
Ahvaz, Iran;
b
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur
University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran;
c
Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research
Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;
d
Environmental Technologies Research
Center (ETRC), Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran;
e
Asadabad School of Medical
Sciences, Asadabad, Iran;
f
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of
Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;
g
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute,
Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran;
h
Department of Environmental Health
Engineering, School of Public Health and Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz
Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
ABSTRACT
Characteristics, sources and health risks of atmospheric PM
10
-bound poly-
cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on residents living in different regions
of Ahvaz, Southwest Iran were investigated during 2016–2017. 84 samples
were taken from the different regions: (S1) industrial; (S2) high traffic and
(S3) residential sites in Ahvaz metropolitan. Urinary samples were collected
from people who came to the east health center of Ahvaz. Urinary 1-
hydroxypyrene and PAHs levels were analyzed by Gas Chromatography
with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Exposure and risk assessment
(Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR), Lifetime Average Daily Dose
(LADD) and hazard index (HI)) of these pollutants were estimated, using
USEPA’s exposure parameters. Results of this study showed that in the air
of residential and industrial areas observed the lowest and the highest
level of PAHs, respectively. High molecular weight compounds (2–4rings),
contributed to 85% of PPAHs mass in the atmospheric PM
10
-bound sam-
ples. Industrial processing and petroleum refining, were identified to be
major outdoor resources of PAHs. Based on the result of this study, the
highest and the lowest concentration of PAHs metabolites were observed
in the industrial and residential areas. Average urinary 1-hydroxypyrene
levels of S1, S2 and S3 regions were 0.4735; 1.311 and 1.4942 ng/dL,
respectively. The values of ILCR in cold (0.06913) and warm (0.052854) sea-
sons were higher than EPA which, was significantly correlated with the
concentration of PAHs. In conclusion, increasing exposure concentration of
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would have a significant potential for
increased ILCR and risk of health endpoint. ILCR in different areas was sig-
nificantly higher than standard. Our results show that the air quality of
Ahvaz city was in an unfavorable condition and increasing exposure con-
centration of PAHs would have a significant potential for increased ILCR
and risk of diseases.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 26 March 2020
Accepted 11 September 2020
KEYWORDS
Polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons; health risks;
urinary biomarker;
1-hydroxypyrene; Iran
CONTACT Mohammad Javad Mohammadi javad.sam200@gmail.com Department of Environmental Health Engineering,
School of Public Health and Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical
Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
ß2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS
https://doi.org/10.1080/10406638.2020.1823857
Introduction
In recent years, in developing countries, one of the most public health and crucial environmental
concern is air pollution especially criteria air pollutants (PMs, O
3
, NOx, SOx, CO, and pb) and
source of several toxic chemical contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and
heavy metals.
1–3
The most common PAHs emission sources to the atmosphere are coal and fossil fuel combus-
tion, traffic exhausts, petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing and dust storm.
4,5
Based on the
result of several studies, the main health endpoints of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
are neurological disease, cardiovascular diseases, thrombosis symptoms, nausea, genotoxicity, cancer
risk levels, blood and bone diseases.
6–9
There are three basic exposure pathways that PAHs can
enter in the human body: inhalation, ingestion, or direct contact.
10–12
Evaluation of exposure to
PAHs has multiple routes and evaluation of external exposure is difficult. Among these hydroxy-
PAH metabolites, 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), the metabolite of pyrene, has been used as the most
common indicator of exposure to total PAHs in biomonitoring programs. So, It is suggested that
urinary 1-hydroxypyrene metabolites are suitable biomarkers for analysis, measurement and provide
information on recent exposure to total PAHs.
13–15
Correct correlation between 1-hydroxypyrene
and high levels of PAHs caused urinary 1-OHP to be the best biomarker for high PAHs.
16,17
In
Iran, rapid urbanization and industrialization has resulted in numerous anthropogenic emission
sources of PAHs in the environment. Based on the report of World Health Organization (WHO),
Ahvaz is one of the most polluted Metropolitan in Iran and the world. This issue can have adverse
effects on residents.
18,19
Ahvaz has been well known for environmental concerns especially air pol-
lution. Over the last few decades, Ahvaz has achieved high economic growth due to huge petrol-
eum, gas, petrochemical, steel industry growth. There is very little information available about
characteristics, sources and health risks of atmospheric PM
10
, bound with PAHs. There are no stud-
ies examining the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their metabolites on citi-
zens. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate characteristics, sources and health risks of
atmospheric PM
10
, bound with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among citizens living in three
separate areas of Ahvaz, Southwest of Iran during 2016–2017.
Materials and methods
Description of study area
Sampling sites covered the all regions of Ahvaz. Ahvaz, a city in the Khuzestan province on the
coast of the Persian Gulf, is one of the largest cities of Iran which is characterized by rapid indus-
trialization and population boom in last three decades.
20–22
Sampling was performed in industrial,
high traffic and residential areas during 2016–2017. We collected air samples, urine (1-OHP)
samples from these stations in Ahvaz (Figure 1). The location of residential, high traffic and
industrial stations was 31420N, 48390E: 31320N, 48690E and 31290N, 48720E,
respectively. Concentration of air pollutants, daily temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative
humidity and wind speed used in this study were collected by Ahvaz Environmental Protection
Agency (AEPA). Location of the industrial, high traffic and residential stations are shown in
Ahvaz (Figure 1).
Sampling, sample preparation, and instrumentation
This cross-sectional study was conducted in three zones of Ahvaz city: Bahonar as industrial sta-
tion (S1); Naderi as high traffic station (S2) and Golestan as residential station (S3) during
2016–2017 with the population of more than 1,200,000 people. The participants were selected if
they both work and live in the studied areas. Urine samples were kept in sterile polypropylene
2 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
cups and immediately transported to the lab. They were stored at 20 C until laboratory analysis
began.
Active sampling system was implemented to measure the concentration of PAHs. Omni sampler
was equipped with Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE filters) were used for measuring the level of
PAHs. Air sampling was done for 24 h. After sampling by Omni (PAHs air samples). Each sample
loaded filters was divided into four parts. 1/4 of the exposed PTFE filter was cut into pieces and
put in a Teflon container. The concentrated extract was cleaned up using a Florisil column accord-
ing to NIOSH 5515 method.
23
In the next stage, a mixture of nitric acid 5%, distilled water, 5 mL
methanol (ratio of 1–1 V%) and 5 mL dichloromethane (ratio of 1–1 V%) was added to it. The
resultant solution was stored in a clean sterile plastic bottle at 4
C until further analyses. Finally,
1.5 mL resultant solution was picked up and thrown in Vaile for injection onto GC–MS.
Urine samples were kept in sterile polypropylene cups and immediately transported to the lab.
Three types of urine specimens including the instant specimen, early morning and a 24-h sample
(adjustment) can be used to measure contaminants and perform biocontrol programs. It is easier
to collect momentary samples, so they more for measurement PAHs in urinary should be use
urinary adjustment. Because of the volume of instantaneous samples varies and changes in urin-
ary flow induce changes in urinary concentrations of toxic substances. We in this study for
adjusting urinary concentrations of 1-OHP biomarker, for variations in urine dilution by creatin-
ine in a population. Samples were stored at 20 C until laboratory analysis began. In this study
human sample collections were based on parameters such as: not smoking, time life in region
selected, gender and do not use drug.
Each chosen urine samples (1-OHP) was mixed with sodium acetate buffer, then to 10 ll
b-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase enzyme was added and centrifugation at 210 rpm/min for 17–18 h.
The phase extraction was done by solid phase (SPE) using C-18 cartridges eluted in methanol
Figure 1. Location of studied communities (S1: industrial, S2: high traffic and S3: residential areas). Source: Author.
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 3
containing 1% acetic acid. The material was concentrated with nitrogen current to 1 mL. The
concentrated material was filtered through a polyvinylidene fluoride filter and an aliquot was
transferred to silanized vials.
24
Then, the analysis was performed by GC–MS. PAHs and urine
samples (1-OHP) were analyzed using GC–MS (7890N, AGILENT and MS 5975C, MODE). A
fused silica capillary column (HP5-MS 30 m 0.25 mm 0.25 lm) was used for separation. The
injected volume of PAHs and 1-OHP were 3 lL/splitless and 2 lL/splitless, respectively. Injector
temperature program was 230 C. Helium was used as carrier gas at 1–2 mL/min. Oven tempera-
ture was programmed from 80 C (held for 2 min) to 285 Cat7
C/min and it was held for
4 min. GC–MASS analysis observed in Table 1.
Method validation procedure
A linearity regression function for PAHs in air samples was set up based on calibration measure-
ment. There was good linearity in the detected range, and correlation coefficients (R
2
) were 0.99,
0.98, 0.94, 0.97, 0.98, 0.98, 97, 0.96, 0.96, 0.95, 0.99, 0.97, 0.98, 0.99, 0.99, and 0.99 for
Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene, Anthracene, Fluoranthene,
Pyrene, Benzo[a]anthracene, Chrysene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene, Benzo[k]fluoranthene,
Benzo[a]pyrene, Dibenz[a,h]anthracene, Benzo[ghi]perylene and Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, respect-
ively.
25
The average polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) recovery efficiency were in the
range of 59–120%. Also, the identification time of the 16 original combinations PAHs were in the
range of 5.13–23.14 min. Also, the efficiency of PAHs recovery were extraction and analysis
methods by determined the standard deviation of 500, 1000, and 2000 lg/L spiked samples.
In this study the method validation in analysis urine samples were the limit of quantification
(LOQ), the determination of the limit of detection (LOD), precision, matrix effect, accuracy,
recovery, and calibration curve. Calibration curve was prepared by spiking 50, 200, and 500 ng/
mL of Urinary 1-hydroxypyreneis (1-OHP) into water. LOD and LOQ of 1-OHP were calculated
by measuring the signal-to-noise ratios of 0.4 and 1.4 ng/mL, respectively. Quality control for 1-
OHP was certified using the standards; QC-Medium (SD: 1.58, RSD (%): 2 and Error (%): 6.89)
and there was a recovery of 95%. The segregation of 1-OHP was gained using a reverse-phase
C18 column. The coefficient of variation for replicate analysis for the same urine sample and the
average recoveries of spiked standards with 1 nmol/l of 1-OHP were 8.2 and 87%, respectively.
Health risk assessment method
The potential health risk due to human exposure to atmospheric PM
10
-bound polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons and heavy metals was calculated according to US Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) standard. The health hazard caused by PAHs can be caused by ingestion, respiration of
Table1. GC–MASS analysis (urinary and air samples).
GC–MASS analysis
Samples Urinary Air samples
Model GC 7890 N, AGILENT & MS 5975 C,
MODE, EI
GC 7890 N, AGILENT & MS 5975 C
Injected volume 2 lL/splitless 3 lL/splitless
Column A capillary fused silica HP5-MS column
30 m 0.25 mm 0.5 lm
film thickness
A capillary fused silica DB5-MS column
30 m 0.25 mm 0.5 lm
film thickness
Temperature program 80 C (2 min), 7–285C(4
C/min) 10-100 C (1 min), 4–285C (15 C/min)
Carrier gas Helium, (1 mL/min) Helium, (2 mL/min)
Auxiliary (transfer line) 290 C 250-300 C
Detector MS MS 5975 C, MODE, EI
4 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
contaminated air, and skin contaminants with PAHs. For determine the amount of incremental
lifetime cancer risk and the exposure assessment in adults, should calculated Lifetime average
daily dose (LADD).
26,27
The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) was developed to quantita-
tively estimate risk from environmental exposure to PAHs based on the U.S. EPA standard mod-
els.
26–28
Lifetime average daily dose and incremental lifetime cancer risk were calculated based on
the following equation:
27,29,30
LADD ¼CIR EF ED
BW AT (1)
ILCR ¼LADD CSF BW
70 CF
(2)
where: LADD is lifetime average daily dose (mg/kg day); Cis BaP exposure concentration (mg/
m
3
); IR is the inhalation rate (m
3
/day) (¼0.6 m
3
/h in this study); EF is exposure frequency
(¼365 days/year in this study); ED is exposure duration (¼25 year for adult in this study); BW is
body weight (kg) (¼50–70 kg in this study); AT is an averaging time (days) following U.S. EPA
(70 years or 25550 day); CF is a conversion factor (10
3
); ILCR is Incremental lifetime Cancer
Risk and CSF is the cancer slope factor (mg/kg day)
1
.
30,31
According to studies and EPA
reported, the amount of CSF for BaP by inhalation was recommended 0.13.
27
In a dose–response
relationship of risk assessment, toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) are used for various pollutants to
a given well-known toxic chemical.
32,33
The relative carcinogenic effects were estimated by TEFs
for 16 typical PAHs. Different amounts of BaPeq (BEC), the PAH measured group ng/m
3
(aver-
age of cold and warm seasons), Incremental lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) and Lifetime average
daily dose (LADD) in adults, calculated based on PAHs levels.
Statistical analysis
Data analyses were used to descriptive statistics for the air pollution indexes. The residual con-
centrations of the PAHs were analyzed using SPSS software version 18. For all measured urinary
concentrations, the following basic statistical characteristics are presented: sample size (N), num-
ber of samples below LOQ (N<LOQ), sample fraction equal to or exceeding LOQ (% LOQ)
and geometric mean (GM). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA and statistical significance is defined
for p0.05) was employed to see the difference of target compounds in three different sampling
sites. Also, Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used for association between PAHs categories
and meteorological factors.
Ethical considerations
Excel and SPSS software’s were used for analyzed and Sampling and data collection were done by
researcher. The Ethics Committee of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences approved
the study protocol. This study was originally approved by the Ahvaz Jundishapur University of
Medical Sciences with code IR.AJUMS.REC.1395.492.
Results and discussion
The average concentration of PM
10
in ambient air (of Ahvaz) for the entire sampling period was
147.4 ± 23.1 lg/m
3
. The PM
10
mass showed seasonal trends with higher concentrations in the cold
and dry period than in the warm and wet period. Based on World Health Organization (WHO)
reports, Ahvaz is the most polluted city among the world because of particulate matter concentra-
tion.
34
The mean mass of PM
10
in cold and warm seasons were 156 ± 21.5 and 139± 25.3 lg/m
3
,
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 5
respectively. The difference between warm and cold season in this study may be caused by the
relatively stable energy consumption. The levels of PM
10
were higher than North American cities
(such as Baltimore, averaging at 16.9 lg/m
3
) and most European cities (range: 8.50–29.30 lg/m
3
,
such as Paris, Rome, Athens, London, and Madrid).
28
They demonstrated that PM
10
concentra-
tion in warm season was higher than in cold season.
28
Shahsavani et al.
35
reported that the PM
10
concentration during summer was higher than the levels of exposure during winter. In another
study, Shakour et al.
36
in Egypt reported that there was relationship between PM
10
level and sea-
sons. Similar to our study, Shakour et al. observed a higher level of exposure to PAHs during the
cold season in compare to the warm season.
Liu in their study in urban Nanchang in 2016, evaluated the effect of meteorological factors
on PM
10
during autumn–winter.
37
They indicated that PM
10
concentration in the cold season
was higher than that in the warm season that these findings are similar to this study. Kong et al
in 2010 in China assessment of a seasonal level of PM
10.38
They reported that the concentration
of PM
10
in industries area and in cold season was higher than Residential area and in the warm
season, respectively.
38
The concentration of PM
10
was found to be markedly associated with the power plants, heavy
industries, lack of vegetation, dust storm and local mist. Great attention has been devoted to par-
ticulate matter (PM), especially PM
10
-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among the differ-
ent atmospheric pollutants.
39
This study assessed the cancer risk of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons among citizens who are living in three separate regions of Ahvaz, Southwest of
Iran during 2016–2017. Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene was associated as a biomarker. It was frozen
for later analysis without any further processing.
The characteristics of PAHs
The concentration of PAHs (Naphthalene (Nap), Acenaphthylene (AcPy), Acenaphthene (AcP),
Fluorene (Flu), Phenanthrene (PA), Anthracene (Ant), Pyrene (Pyr), Fluoranthene (FL),
Benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), Chrysene (CHR), Benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), Benzo[k]fluoranthene
(BkF), Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), Dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DBA), Indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene (IND),
Benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BghiP) due to outdoor air in warm and cold season, observed in industrial,
high traffic and residential areas of Ahvaz are summarized in Table 2.
Total PAHs concentrations ranged from 2.09 to 16.78 ng/m
3
(mean 7.97 ng/m
3
). Anthracene
and BkF had the highest and the lowest average concentrations during 2016–2017. People who
participated in the study were exposed to levels of PAHs in residential, high traffic and industrial
areas which were higher than WHO air quality guidelines and regional standard values.
40,41
High
concentration of these elements can be attributed to their application as catalysts in oil, gas and
petrochemical industries.
4
Also another reason for variations of PAHs is petrogenic and pyrogenic
sources of PAHs within Ahvaz ambient air. The higher ratio, the larger would be the contribu-
tions from combustion phenomena (Oil, coal, gasoline and gasoil) into the formation of these
compounds.
42,43
The same results were found for Anthracene and Naphthalene, which
were12–15 times higher than the WHO guideline values. Result showed that during cold and
warm seasons, industrial area had the most concentration of PAHs in comparison with other
regions. Also, the lowest concentrations of PAHs were seen in residential area. In 2015, Rezaei
et al. in Tehran studied the effects of seasonal variations on occupational exposure of newsagent
kiosks to PAHs.
44
Based on their results, the levels of exposure to PAHs during cold season were
higher than summer.
44
Results of our study were similar to this study because of major industries
and cold seasons (low temperature). It is worth mentioning that the temperature inversion occurs
predominantly in autumn and winter and also demand sharply rises for heating fuels, crude oil,
and natural gas in cold season, ultimately leading to higher refinery operation as well as higher
level of PAHs’concentration emission.
6 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
Ratio analysis
Determination of ratio analysis was used to distinguish between pyrolytic and petro genic PAHs
sources. Most common ratios used for this issue are the isomer ratios of Flu/Py, Ant/(Ant þPhe),
Flu/(Flu þPyr), Chr/BaA, BaA/(BaA þChr) and BaP/(BaP þChr).
45
Ant/(Ant þPhe)>0.1
reflected a combustion source, while a ratio <0.1 suggested a petroleum source.
45–47
BaA/
(BaA þChr) may characterize the nature of potential PAH emission sources. BaA/
(BaA þChr)>0.5, strongly indicates the contribution of coal, grass and wood consumption.
When it is between 0.2 and 0.35PAHs usually is emitted from liquid fossil fuel, vehicle and crude
oil combustion. A ratio <0.2 indications petroleum and petro genic sources.
46,47
As shown in
Table 3, BaA/(BaA þChr) ratios were between 0.2 and 0.35 (0.338 in this study). It strongly indi-
cates the contribution of liquid fossil fuel, vehicle and crude oil combustion. Based on the pattern
of fuel consumption and production of oil and gas in Ahvaz, this issue can be acceptable.
According to the results in Table 3, the ratios of Ant/(Ant þPhe) were higher than 0.1, suggest-
ing a mixed source of petroleum combustion. This result is different from that coal combustion
and traffic emissions are major contributors of atmospheric PAHs in Guangzhou City.
48
Table 2. Distribution of PAHs (ng/m
3
) in outdoor air of Ahvaz city during two seasons from 2016 to 2017.
PAHs
S1 S2 S3
Ahvaz (total)Warm Cold Warm Cold Warm Cold
Nap 20.83 ± 2.52 15.26± 1.86 14.18 ± 2.47 16.77 ± 2.62 16.06 ± 2.86 13.06 ±2.08 16.02 ± 2.68
AcPy 2.56 ± 0.48 3.92± 0.97 1.91 ± 0.39 2.26 ± 0.82 1.68 ± 0.32 2.01 ± 0.52 2.38 ± 0.43
AcP 3.41 ± 0.65 5.23 ± 0.92 3.98 ± 0.47 4.71 ± 0.71 1.25 ± 0.53 1.55 ± 0.63 3.35 ± 0.57
Flu 13.30 ± 2.27 18.62 ± 2.84 10.75 ± 1.17 12.72 ± 1.56 7.52 ± 1.46 8.16 ± 1.60 11.84 ± 1.38
PA 2.41 ± 0.62 5.86 ± 1.06 6.53 ± 1.01 7.72 ± 1.37 2.46 ± 0.68 2.46 ± 0.81 4.57 ± 1.85
Ant 18.64 ± 2.34 21.27 ± 3.44 15.39 ± 3.07 18.21 ± 2.85 12.90 ± 1.88 14.29 ± 2.24 16.78 ± 2.13
Pyr 10.00 ± 1.27 13.27 ± 2.64 9.18 ± 2.18 12.86 ± 2.38 6.75 ± 1.13 11.75 ± 2.16 10.63 ± 1.92
FL 5.83 ± 0.85 8.93 ± 1.52 6.10 ± 1.10 7.22 ± 1.78 3.24 ± 0.57 5.52 ± 0.86 6.13 ± 0.75
BaA 6.30 ± 1.37 9.66 ± 1.68 4.87 ± 1.07 5.76 ± 1.29 3.70 ± 0.78 3.70 ± 1.11 5.66 ± 1.08
Chr 11.28 ± 2.27 17.29 ± 3.02 9.09 ± 2.43 10.75 ± 2.78 8.27 ± 2.24 9.79 ±2.69 11.07 ± 3.36
BbF 4.60 ± 1.09 7.06 ± 1.55 4.72 ± 0.68 5.59 ± 1.27 7.38 ± 1.01 7.43 ± 1.53 6.13 ± 1.12
BkF 1.80 ± 0.62 2.76 ± 0.96 2.20 ± 0.47 2.60 ± 0.73 1.60 ± 0.59 1.60 ± 0.68 2.09 ± 0.75
BaP 7.47 ± 1.14 11.45 ± 2.23 5.53 ± 1.27 6.55 ± 1.52 4.90 ± 0.94 5.76 ± 1.09 6.94 ± 1.04
DBA ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
IND ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
BghiP ND ND ND ND ND ND ND
T¼PAHs 103.59 ± 9.52
CANPAHs
a
31.89 ± 3.89
COMPAHs
b
48.65 ± 4.17
a
Carcinogenic PAHs includes: BaA, Chr, BbF, BkF, BaP, DaA and IND.
b
Combustion PAHs includes: Fluroanthene, Pyrene, BaA, Chr, B(b)F, B(k)F, B(a)P, B [ghi]P and Ind.
Table 3. The isomeric ratios of: Flu/Py, Ant/(Ant þPhe), Chr/BaA, BaA/(BaA þChr), and BaP/(BaP þChr) in PM
10
-bound
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon samples.
Isomeric Ratios Value Source emission
Flu/(Flu þPyr) 0.365 <0.5 Natural gas, Gasoline combustion
Summer seasons 0.302 >0.5 Diesel vehicles
Winter seasons 0.424
Ant/(Ant þPhe) 0.785 >0.1 Gasoline, diesel combustion
Summer seasons 0.745 <0.1 Nonburned fossil fuels (petroleum source)
Winter seasons 0.825
BaA/(BaA þChr) 0.338 >0.5 Coal, grass and wood
Summer seasons 0.305 between 0.2 and 0.35 Liquid fossil fuel, vehicle and crude oil combustion
Winter seasons 0.37 <0.2 Petroleum and petrogenic sources
BaP/(BaP þChr) 0.385 <0.5 Diesel vehicles
Summer seasons 0.33 >0.5 Gasoline vehicles
Winter seasons 0.44
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 7
Level of metabolite and HM in urinary and blood matrix
Number of subjects participating in this study were 28 samples in two periods (14: male ¼9 and
females ¼5) in each area. Basic characterization in the studied group included average ages (the
average ages samples was 20–40 years; mean ¼28.36, min ¼20 and max ¼40), BW (nonaccep-
tance of obesity as a BMI greater than 30; mean ¼25.68, min ¼18.5 and max ¼30), chronic
hypertension (people who have a history of chronic hypertension w were excluded), use drug
(people who were taking the drug were excluded) and smoking (all samples were nonsmokers).
Level of 1-hydroxypyrene in urinary matrix is illustrated in Table 4. increasing concentration
trends of 1-hydroxypyrene in industrial, high traffic and residential areas during warm and cold
seasons are presented in Table 4. It should be noted that average concentrations of 1-hydroxypyr-
ene in urinary matrix during cold season was higher than warm season. The reason of this differ-
ence can be industrial petrochemical and power plants in Ahvaz city.
The standard of average inhalation rate based on WHO Report’s for BaP and other PAHs in
the general population of residential, high traffic and industrial areas are 0.4, 0.7 and 1.5 ng/
m
3
.
25,49–51
Average concentrations of PAHs, 1-hydroxypyrene in air and urine matrix during
warm and cold seasons from 2016 to 2017 are illustrated in Figure 2. Based on the results, the
average level of PAHs in industrial, high traffic and residential areas were 9.575 ± 3.86,
8.005 ± 3.12 and 6.34 ± 1.92 ngm
3
, respectively (Figure 2a). According to Figure 2a, polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in industrial area were higher than high traffic and residen-
tial areas. In industrial, high traffic and residential areas. According to Figure 2b, 1-OHP and
PAHs levels in air and urinary samples during cold season were higher than warm season.
The concentrations of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels within this study were far higher than
those which were seen in other studies of developing countries.
16,52–55
Metal and nonmetal indus-
tries, heavy traffic, petrochemical and power plants emissions within hot and humid weather in
most seasons caused these differences. The concentrations of 1-OHP as a biomarker which was
commonly used for PAH exposure in cold and warm seasons were 1.197 and 0.988 ng/dL,
Table 4. Level of 1-hydroxypyrene in urinary matrix.
S
1
(N¼28 samples) S
2
(N¼28 samples) S
3
(N¼28 samples)
Element Season Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
1-hydroxypyrene (urinary matrix) Warm 1.320 ±0.0286 1.196 ±0.0231 0.447 ±0.0105
Cold 1.667 ±0.0307 1.426 ±0.0295 0.499 ±0.0152
Figure 2. Average concentrations of PAHs, 1-hydroxypyrene in air, urine matrix (a: PAHs levels during the cold and warm seasons
in different regions, b: a comparison of PAHs and 1-hydroxypyrene in air and urine matrix during the warm and cold seasons).
8 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
respectively. Paying attention to decreasing level of PAHs, especially 1-hydroxypyrene metabolites
is very important, in order to decrease adverse health effects due to exposure to these pollutants.
In 2016, Balcıo
glu et al. studied the potential effects of PAHs in marine foods on human health.
56
They demonstrated that exposure to PAHs could increase the human health risk.
56
Due to the
fact that men were more exposed to the ambient air and the concentration of 1-OHP as a bio-
marker measured in their urine was higher. Numerous studies revealed that exposure to PAHs
could have an adverse effect on human health. Dust phenomena and heavy industries such as oil,
gas, petrochemical, steel, piping and traffic emissions were the major reasons of high concentra-
tions of urinary metabolites due to PAHs exposure. Based on the results, concentrations of 1-
hydroxypyrene PAHs metabolites among people living in industrial region were higher than
another region which is similar to a previous study in Guatemalan. Also, In 2017, Weinstein
et al. measured urinary1-hydroxypyrenedue to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
among Guatemalan recently pregnant rural women.
54
They demonstrated that in 65% women,
maximum 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations exceeded PAHs exposure levels in industry region.
54
In 2007, Wenjie et al. studied the urinary 1-hydroxypyrene biomarker for exposure to PAHs in
Beijing.
57
The levels of 1-OHP were 3.25 and 3.20 ng/dL at the police station and high traffic
area, respectively.
57
In a similar work, exposure to PAHs was assessed among people who were
living in two separate regions from a steel mill and 1-hydroxypyrene was considered as a bio-
marker.
58
The geometric mean concentration of urinary 1-OHP among nearby group (industry)
was approximately 1.3 times higher than control group (residential).
58
Health risks of atmospheric PM
10
-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
This is the first study in southwest of Iran, that assessed the potential cancer risk of human
exposure to urban outdoor PAHs of different functional areas. In order to evaluate the health
risk of exposure to PAHs, BaP (BaPeq) method was used. Carcinogen and mutagenic effects
dependent to the PAHs group were investigated by BaP.
26,32,59
Table 5 showed that total level of
BaP in cold and warm seasons were 9.82 and 7.5 ng/m
3
, respectively. According to Table 5, BaP
(about 80% of total BaP concentration) had the highest level of BaPeq. The source and distribu-
tion of BaP are very diverse. This aromatic with 5 rings had the highest molecular weight among
aromatics which can be attributed to industrial processes, burning wood, light petroleum and
domestic fuels.
60
The results of this study indicate that ILCR in both cold and warm seasons was
higher than EPA guidelines which is significant and critical. ILCR in industrial and high traffic
areas was more than that in residential area. Results showed that people who are living in indus-
trial and high traffic areas had the higher ILCR in comparison with residential area; however, this
requires a thorough epidemiologic study. The assessment of incremental lifetime cancer risk of
PAHs mainly is based on laboratory tests and epidemiologic work. The level of ILCR in cold sea-
son was 0.06913. Also, in warm season, the amount of ILCR was 0.052854.According to EPA
guidelines, the acceptable amount for incremental lifetime cancer risk is 0.0001 to 0.00001.
59,61
The highest ILCR was found in the Industrial Nearby and the lowest in the residential Area.
Similarly, in our study the carcinogenic risk due to PAHs in PM
10
was influenced by local PAHs
releases (mobile and stationary emissions) as the study conducted in Korea.
62
In 2013, Kaur et al.
studied preliminary analysis of PAHs and possible risk of implications for humans in Amritsar,
India among 70 years old people. They reported that ILCR was 0.000578 0.00000059 and this
amount was acceptable range.
27
In another study, Liu et al. studied the quantification of the car-
cinogenic risks associated with the sources of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in
China by model-incremental lifetime cancer risk method.
29
They reported that ILCR was lower
than EPA standard.
29
Tsai et al. in 2001 studied Health Risk assessment for workers exposed to
PAHs in a carbon black manufacturing industry. According to the results of this study, ILCR was
0.00435 that was much higher than EPA standard.
63
In a similar work, Watanabe et al. in 2009
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 9
Table 5. BaPeq (BEC), LADD and ILCR for the cold and warm seasons from 2016 to 2017.
PAH
TEF BEC (ng/m3) LADD ILCR
Warm Cold Warm Cold Warm Cold Warm Cold
Nap 0.001 0.001 1.70 10
–2
1.50 10
–2
9.21 10
–4
8.13 10
–4
1.19 10
–4
1.05 10
–4
AcPy 0.001 0.001 2.04 10
–3
2.72 10
–3
1.10 10
–4
1.47 10
–4
1.44 10
–5
1.92 10
–5
AcP 0.001 0.001 2.88 10
–3
3.83 10
–3
1.56 10
–4
2.07 10
–4
2.02 10
–5
2.69 10
–5
Flu 0.001 0.001 1.05 10
–2
1.31 10
–2
5.70 10
–4
7.13 10
–4
7.41 10
–5
9.27 10
–5
PA 0.001 0.001 3.79 10
–3
5.34 10
–3
2.05 10
–4
2.89 10
–4
2.67 10
–5
3.76 10
–5
Ant 0.01 0.01 1.56 10
–1
1.79 10
–1
8.47 10
–3
9.70 10
–3
1.1 10
–3
1.26 10
–3
FL 0.001 0.001 5.05 10
–3
7.22 10
–3
2.73 10
–4
3.91 10
–4
3.55 10
–5
5.08 10
–5
Pyr 0.001 0.001 8.64 10
–3
1.26 10
–2
4.68 10
–4
6.83 10
–4
6.08 10
–5
8.88 10
–5
BaA 0.1 0.1 4.95 10
–1
6.37 10
–1
2.68 10
–2
3.45 10
–2
3.48 10
–3
4.48 10
–3
Chr 0.01 0.01 9.54 10
–2
1.26 10
–1
5.16 10
–3
6.82 10
–3
6.72 10
–4
8.87 10
–4
BbF 0.1 0.1 5.57 10
–1
6.69 10
–1
3.01 10
–2
3.62 10
–2
3.92 10
–3
4.71 10
–3
BkF 0.1 0.1 1.86 10
–1
2.32 10
–1
1.01 10
–2
1.25 10
–2
1.31 10
–3
1.63 10
–3
BaP 1 1 5.96702 7.91732 3.23 10
–1
4.28 10
–1
4.2 10
–2
5.57 10
–2
DBA 0.1 0.1 ND ND ND ND ND ND
IND 5 5 ND ND ND ND ND ND
BghiP 0.01 0.01 ND ND ND ND ND ND
Total BaPeq 7.508316 9.821088 4.06 10
–1
5.31 10
–1
5.2854 10
–2
6.913 10
–2
Total PAHs 93.526 113.79
Rate of total BaPeq/total PAHs 0.0802 0.087
ND: not detected.
10 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
compared incremental lifetime cancer risks computed for BaP with lung cancer risks by epide-
miologic data. Based on their results, value of ILCR was higher than EPA standard.
61
Chen and
Liao studied exposed to environmental PAHs and Health risk assessment on human in Taiwan
region.
64
They reported that inhalation-ILCR and dermal contact-ILCR values for adults follow a
lognormal distribution with geometric mean 0.000104 and 0.0000385, respectively.
64
This amount
indicating high potential cancer risk. Also, Peng et al in 2011 investigation of potential risk status,
sources and distribution PAHs in urban soils of Beijing.
65
Based on their results, the ILCRs of
exposing to PAHs in the under normal and extreme conditions on urban of Beijing for adult
were 0.00000177 and 0.0000248, respectively.
65
Figure 3 shows the level of BaP concentrations in industrial, high traffic and residential areas
during cold and warm seasons in comparison with WHO guidelines (1 ngm
3
). Results showed
that concentration of BaP in Ahvaz was higher than guidelines which indicates that the air quality
condition is unfavorable in this city.
Traffic emissions were the potential source of particle-associated PAHs in an industrial city.
The comparison of the present study with the present existing studies and guidelines shows that
the city of Ahvaz due to its neighborhood and affiliation with oil, gas, petrochemical, steel and
piping industry has a high concentration of air pollutants, especially PAHs, which can increase
the incremental lifetime cancer risk among residents of the city and cause health problems. In
recent years, because of the increase of health effect attributed to air pollution between citizen
and increased traffic emission on PAHs levels in industries cities, paying attention to decreasing
health endpoint related to air pollutant is very important. According to our findings, the PAHs
concentrations were higher than the standard due to high consumption of petrochemical material
such as vehicles in Ahvaz city.
Limitations
Low time sampling, only during one year, was the important limitation of this study. Observed
trends may not be representative of a wider population, because this study had a small sample
size (N ¼84). It should be noted that, future larger studies are required to verify the observed
trends, to perform subgroup analyses and further time period. The concentration of urinary 1-
hydroxypyrene might not be a good biomarker for lower differences of exposures, and did not
Figure 3. Comparison the amount of standard to BaP concentration levels in industrial, high traffic and residential areas (a:
warm season, b: cold season).
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 11
respond detectably to the scale of differences in personal exposures to PAHs among the exposed
and nonexposed.
Conclusion
The effect of various ambient exposure conditions to PAHs on the potential biomarker 1-OHP
among citizens were determined in the Ahvaz, Khuzestan province of Iran, during 2016–2017.
One of the most important pollutants in the air of industrial cities are PAHs. It is due to indus-
trialization, high consumption of fossil fuels and metrological phenomenon such as dust storm
which causes increasing concentration of these pollutants. Little information is available on PAHs
air quality in Ahvaz. Industrial, petroleum and gas, anthropogenic sources (vehicle emission and
coal combustion), demographic and climate characteristics and dust were considered to be the
main factors influencing outdoor PAHs concentrations that had strong impacts on the atmos-
phere in Ahvaz. Results of this study showed that the average amount of PAHs were 8–10 times
higher than the standard values. Anthropogenic sources including vehicle emission and coal com-
bustion had strong impacts on the atmosphere of the communities.
Exposure to PAHs of industrial regions is the most risk factor for deleterious health outcomes
around the metropolitans. Risk assessment based on the Increment Life Time Cancer Risk (ILCR)
model for environmental PAHs was conducted for the first time to evaluate the human cancer
risk associated with urban outdoor. Paying attention to the reduction in amount of air pollutant
emissions in industrial cities is very vital, because production of PAHs from industries and
vehicles, increases adverse health effects among citizens.
Careful monitoring and controlling the emission of PAHs should be conducted in order to
decrease the amount of this dangerous pollutants. Application of modern automobiles, cleaner
fuels and developed green area has an important role in improving the quality of the urban envir-
onment. Also, decreased PAHs emission in the industrial section by modifying the production
process, refining the fuel and using modern equipment are very vital.
Acknowledgment
This work was part of a funded PhD thesis of Mohammad Javad Mohammadi, a student at Ahvaz Jundishapur
University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS), and the financial support of this study (U-95094) was provided
by AJUMS.
Conflict of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Funding
This work was part of a funded PhD thesis of Mohammad Javad Mohammadi, a student at Ahvaz Jundishapur
University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS), and the financial support of this study (U-95094) was provided
by AJUMS.
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16 G. GOUDARZI ET AL.
