Comparative study of PM10-bound heavy metals and PAHs during six years in a Chinese megacity: Compositions, sources, and source-specific risks

Qianqian Xue; Zhuo Jiang; Xiang Wang; Danlin Song; Fengxia Huang; Yingze Tian; Yanqi Huang-Fu; Yinchang Feng

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109740

Comparative study of PM₁₀-bound heavy metals and PAHs during six years in a Chinese megacity: Compositions, sources, and source-specific risks

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2019 Dec 30:186:109740. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109740. Epub 2019 Oct 23.

Authors

Qianqian Xue¹, Zhuo Jiang¹, Xiang Wang¹, Danlin Song², Fengxia Huang², Yingze Tian³, Yanqi Huang-Fu¹, Yinchang Feng¹

Affiliations

¹ The State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
² Chengdu Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, China.
³ The State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China. Electronic address: tianyingze@hotmail.com.

PMID: 31655327
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.109740

Abstract

To comparatively analyze source-specific risks of atmospheric particulate matter (PM), PM₁₀-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals (HMs) were synchronously detected in a megacity (Chengdu, China) from 2009 to 2016. Non-cancer risk (assessed by hazard quotient, HQ) of PAHs and HMs was within the acceptable level, while cancer risk (assessed by incremental life cancer risk (ILCR), R) of PAHs and HMs were 1.01 × 10^-4 and 9.40 × 10^-5 in DP and WP, which showed low risk. HMs dominated cancer (92.12%) and non-cancer (99.99%) risks. An advanced method named as joint source-specific risk assessment of HMs and PAHs (HP-SRA model) was developed to assess comprehensive source-specific risks. Gasoline combustion (contributed 9.6% of PM₁₀, 0.3% of HQ and 10.0% of R), diesel combustion (6.2% of PM₁₀, 0.2% of HQ and 10.7% of R), coal combustion (17.5% of PM₁₀, 1.8% of HQ and 13.4% of R), industrial source (9.1% of PM₁₀, 80.7% of HQ and 35.0% of R), crustal dust (28.1% of PM₁₀, 9.0% of HQ and 1.6% of R), nitrate (7.5% of PM₁₀, 1.1% of HQ and 6.2% of R) and sulphate & secondary organic carbon & adsorption (SSA, 19.6% of PM₁₀, 6.9% of HQ and 23.1% of R) were identified as main sources. For cancer risk, industrial sources and SSA posed the highest proportion. Higher levels of Co and Ni generated from industrial sources and Cr (Ⅵ), Cd and Ni absorbed in the SSA can result in high-risk contributions. Thus, controlling HMs levels in industrial emissions is essential to protecting human health.

Keywords: Heavy metals; PAHs; PM(10); Source apportionment; Source-specific risk.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis*
Air Pollutants / chemistry
China
Cities
Environmental Monitoring*
Humans
Metals, Heavy / analysis*
Metals, Heavy / chemistry
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / analysis*
Particulate Matter / chemistry
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / chemistry
Risk Assessment

Substances

Air Pollutants
Metals, Heavy
Particulate Matter
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons