scholarly journals NOX AND VOC MEASUREMENTS AND HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT IN AN INFORMAL SETTLEMENT IN DURBAN

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Cookson' ◽  
A Royall ◽  
R Diab ◽  
M Binedell

A previous study by Muller et al. (2003) investigated NOx, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene levels in households in the densely settled informal settlement of Cato Crest located within the Durban Metropolitan area. AHealth Risk Assessment based on the United States EPA approach showed that the residents of Cato Crest experienced significant health risks as a result of exposure to these pollutants largely as a result of kerosene usage in their homes. Specifically, the study which was conducted in September 2000 in 14 households, showed that exposure to NOx over a 24-hour period indicated a potential health risk in all the households, that benzene poses a health risk in 50% of the households, whereas there is no health risk associated with exposure to toluene. A follow-up study was conducted in July 2006 targeting similar households and pollutants to investigate whether comparable results were found in a typical winter period, when air quality is generally expected to deteriorate.

Author(s):  
A.I. Yaradua ◽  
A. J. Alhassan ◽  
A. Nasir ◽  
S. S. Matazu ◽  
A. Usman ◽  
...  

Vegetable fields in Katsina State are increasingly being loaded with heavy metals through various pollution sources such as agricultural activities mining and traffic. Onion bulb samples from the three senatorial zones that constitute to make up Katsina state in the North West of Nigeria were collected and the concentrations of seven heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Fe, Zn, Mn and Ni) in all the samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The health risk assessment methods developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) were employed to explore the potential health hazards of heavy metals in the samples on the children and adult population. The highest mean concentration (mg/kg) was observed for Fe, followed by Pb, Zn and Mn. While Cd has the lowest concentration with the heavy metals Cr and Ni being below detection level (BDL). Overall hazard index (Hi) for the heavy metals were within the safety limit. The overall cancer risk to the adults based on pseudo-total metal concentrations exceeded the target value, mainly contributed by Pb.  Mn and Zn were the primary heavy metals posing non-cancer risks while Pb caused the greatest cancer risk. It was concluded that consumption of the onion samples from Katsina State may contribute to the population cancer burden.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thanh Giao ◽  
Phan Kim Anh ◽  
Huynh Thi Hong Nhien

The study was conducted to assess the health risks of workers due to exposure to toxic gases including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m, p-xylene, o-xylene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde at gasoline retail stations. In this study, data on the  concentrations of the toxic gases were collected from the previously published studies in the qualified scientific journals. The health risk assessment was followed by the process of the United States Environment Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). The results show that the concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m, p-xylene, o-xylene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde were in the range of 12.40 - 357.5, 12.47 - 574.17, 2.05 - 156.5, 4.57 - 218, 2.36 - 77.04, 3.64 - 153.93 and 1.27- 27.83 µg/m3 , respectively. Life time cancer risk for gasoline station workers due to exposure to benzene, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde was calculated in the ranges of 2.13x10-5 - 6.14x10-4 , 4.96x10-7 - 3.79x10-5 , 4.81x10-6 - 2.03x10-4 , and 7.99x10-7 - 1.75x10-5 , respectively. For non-carcinogenic  compounds, the hazard index due to benzene, toluene, m, p-xylene, o-xylene were respectively in the range of 0.13 - 3.81, 7.97x10-4 -  0.04, 0.01 - 0.70 and 0.01 - 0.25. The findings revealed that there is high risk of cancer and non-cancer for the workers working at the gasolines stations if they are not taking good preventive measures. The calculation showed that the limit levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde should be reduced to 5.82x10-4 , 15.64, 4.13x10- 3 , 0.31, 7.57x10-4 and 1.59x10-3 mg/m3 , respectively to meet the safety levels for the workers at the gasoline stations. Keywords: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, life-time cancer risk, health


Author(s):  
Haseeb Tufail Moryani ◽  
Shuqiong Kong ◽  
Jiangkun Du ◽  
Jianguo Bao

The aim of this study is to identify and investigate levels of toxic heavy metals in PM2.5 fractioned road dust to better understand the associated inhalation risk and potential health impacts. To achieve this aim, concentrations of seven traffic generated heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Sb, and Cr) were determined in the PM2.5 fraction of road dust samples from four different locations (offices, residential, hospital, and school) in two cities (Karachi and Shikarpur) of Pakistan using ICP-MS. The average concentration values of heavy metals in Karachi were as follows: 332.9 mg/kg Cu, 426.6 mg/kg Pb, 4254.4 mg/kg Zn, 62.3 mg/kg Cd, 389.7 mg/kg Ni, 70.4 mg/kg Sb, 148.1 mg/kg Cr, whereas the average concentration values of heavy metals in Shikarpur were 245.8 mg/kg Cu, 538.4 mg/kg Pb, 8351.0 mg/kg Zn, 57.6 mg/kg Cd, 131.7 mg/kg Ni, 314.5 mg/kg Sb, 346.6 mg/kg Cr. The pollution level was assessed through two pollution indices enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo). These indices showed moderate to extreme level pollution in studied areas of both cities. The health risk assessment through inhalation contact was conducted according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) model for children and adults. Both non-cancerous and cancerous risks were characterised in the road dust samples for each location. As yet, there is not a single study on the concentrations of heavy metals in PM2.5 fractions of road dust in Karachi and Shikarpur, findings of this research will facilitate researchers for further investigations in current field.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kushwaha ◽  
Naba Hazarika ◽  
Arin Srivastava

A pilot study was carried out in New Delhi, India, to assess the level of traffic related aerosol exposure, individually and associated metals. These investigations also try to formulate their risk assessment using different modes of transport on a typical journey to work route and compared Bus, Auto-rickshaws and Bike (Two Wheelers) during the journey. The inhalable particulate matter monitored in winter period and also evaluated the potential health risk due to inhalation in the study. The exposure of Particulate matter was observed maximum in the Bike (502 ± 176.38 μgm-3) and minimum in the Auto-rickshaw (208.15 ± 61.38 μgm-3). In case of human exposure to metals (viz. Cu, Cd, Mn, Pb, Ni, Co, Cr, Fe, Zn), it was mostly exposed by Fe, Zn and Co and least exposed by Cd, Cr and Pb. Human health risk was estimated based on exposure and dosage response. The assessment of particulate-bound elements was calculated by assuming exposure of 6 h. The findings indicated that the exposure to particulate bound elements have relatively more adverse health effects. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 26-36 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9205


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying-ju Li ◽  
Zhi-kang Wang ◽  
Fan-xin Qin ◽  
Zhi-qing Fang ◽  
Xin-li Li ◽  
...  

The health risk of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) via contamination of the food chain has attracted widespread concern. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of PTEs in environment and human body (fingernail, hair, and blood) of people living in agricultural soil near arsenic coal mining areas in Xingren County (Guizhou, southwest China). 89 crop samples which included vegetables, rice, maize, and coix seed and their corresponding soils and 17 local surface water and biological tissue samples (41 × 3) in near arsenic coal mining areas were collected, and the concentrations of potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Pb) in all the samples were determined. The health risk assessment methods developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency were employed to explore the potential health hazards of PTEs in soils growing crops. Results showed that 4 toxic elements, Cd, Cu, As, and Cr, were found to have different degrees of contamination in soils in the studied area. The total concentration of toxic elements (As, Cr, Cu, and Pb) in fingernail, hair, and blood samples were 90.50, 69.31, and 6.90 mg·kg−1, respectively. Fingernail samples from females were more likely to show exposure to trace metals compared to males. As the age of the subject increased, the concentration of As also increased in all three biological samples. The risk assessment for the mean hazard index value from the consumption of local food crops was 14.81, indicating that consumers may experience adverse, noncarcinogenic health effects. The estimated mean total cancer risk value of was 5.3 × 10−3, which was approximately 10 to 1000 times higher than the acceptable range of 10−6–10−4, indicating serious carcinogenic risks for local people consuming crops from the area. This study provides evidence that local residents in this study area may be at a high risk of disease caused from toxic element exposure.


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