Human health risk assessment of PM2.5-bound heavy metal of anthropogenic sources in the Khon Kaen Province of Northeast Thailand

Pornpun Sakunkoo; Theerachai Thonglua; Sarawut Sangkham; Chananya Jirapornkul; Yuparat Limmongkon; Sakda Daduang; Thanee Tessiri; Jetnapis Rayubkul; Sakesun Thongtip; Naowarat Maneenin; Sittichai Pimonsree

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09572

Human health risk assessment of PM_2.5-bound heavy metal of anthropogenic sources in the Khon Kaen Province of Northeast Thailand

Heliyon. 2022 Jun 7;8(6):e09572. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09572. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

Pornpun Sakunkoo^{1

2}, Theerachai Thonglua¹, Sarawut Sangkham³, Chananya Jirapornkul^{2

4}, Yuparat Limmongkon^{1

2}, Sakda Daduang⁵, Thanee Tessiri⁵, Jetnapis Rayubkul^{2

6}, Sakesun Thongtip^{3

7}, Naowarat Maneenin^{2

4}, Sittichai Pimonsree⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health Occupational Health and Safety, Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Muang District, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
² Occupational Health Safety and Environmental Epidemiology Group (OHSEE), Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
³ Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Phayao, Muang District, Phayao, 56000, Thailand.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Muang District, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
⁵ Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Muang District, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
⁶ Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Muang District, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
⁷ Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change Research Unit, School of Energy and Environment, University of Phayao, Muang District, Phayao, 56000, Thailand.

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the human health risk of PM_2.5-bound heavy metals from anthropogenic sources in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand between December 2020 and February 2021. According to the findings, the geometric mean concentration of PM_2.5 in the university area, residential area, industrial zone, and the agricultural zone was 32.78 μg/m³, 50.25 μg/m³, 44.48 μg/m³, and 29.53 μg/m³, respectively. The results showed that the estimated human health risk assessment, in terms of non-carcinogenic risks among children and adults in an urban area (residential and university), industrial zone, and the agricultural area, was of hazard index (HI) value of >1.0 indicating a greater chance of chronic effects occurring. This study showed that exposure to PM_2.5-bound heavy metal may increase the likelihood that lasting effects will result in a very high carcinogenic risk (CR) in children in residential areas, and an industrial zone with total carcinogenic risk (TCR) values of $0.23 \times 10^{1}$ , and $0.12 \times 10^{1}$ , respectively while resulting in a high TCR of $3.34 \times 10^{- 2}$ and $4.11 \times 10^{- 2}$ within the university areas and agricultural zone, respectively. In addition, health risk assessments among adults demonstrate high TCR values of $4.40 \times 10^{- 1}$ (residential area), $2.28 \times 10^{- 1}$ (industrial zone), and $7.70 \times 10^{- 3}$ (agricultural zone), thus indicating a potential health risk to adults living in these areas while the university area was very low effects on carcinogenic risk ( $CR \leq 10^{- 8}$ ) for adults. Therefore, lowering the risk of exposure to PM_2.5 via the respiratory tract, for example, wearing a mask outside is a very effective self-defense strategy for people within and around the study site. This data study strongly supports the implementation of the air pollutant emission source reduction measures control and health surveillance.

Keywords: Air pollution; Carcinogenic risk; Health risk; Heavy metals; Inhalation exposure; Non-carcinogenic risk; PM2.5.