Health risk assessment of BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) in different indoor air using Monte Carlo simulation in zahedan city, Iran

Hossein Kamani; Marzieh Baniasadi; Hossein Abdipour; Leili Mohammadi; Shahla Rayegannakhost; Hossein Moein; Ali Azari

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20294

Health risk assessment of BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) in different indoor air using Monte Carlo simulation in zahedan city, Iran

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 19;9(9):e20294. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20294. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Hossein Kamani¹, Marzieh Baniasadi¹, Hossein Abdipour², Leili Mohammadi¹, Shahla Rayegannakhost³, Hossein Moein¹, Ali Azari⁴

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Sciences in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan,Iran.
² Student Research Committee, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
³ Department of Mathematics, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.
⁴ Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Iran.

Abstract

The presence of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene compounds (BTEX) in the breathing air outside and inside buildings is one of the most significant problems related to human health today. This study was performed to determine the concentration of BTEX pollutants in indoor environments. PhoCheck was used to detect the concentration of BTEX compounds. In this study, the concentration (BTEX pollutant) was assessed in four indoor spaces, including restaurants, laundries, hair salons, and photocopying centers. The results showed that the average concentration of all four searched compounds was higher than the recommended limit of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results of carcinogenic risk assessment by benzene and ethylbenzene compounds show 2153 × 10^-4 and 913 × 10^-5 respectively. The HQ values for toluene and xylene were 1.397 and 0.505, respectively, indicating that exposure to toluene alone may have adverse effects on human health, while exposure to xylene alone has no adverse effects. The hazard index (HI) for toluene and xylene pollutants was higher than one. An HI value higher than one means that the two contaminants toluene and xylene in the air we breathe may have adverse effects on human health. As a result, the necessary control measures should be taken to prevent the unfavorable effects of these two pollutants.

Keywords: And xylene compounds; Benzene; Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk; Ethylbenzene; Health risk assessment; Indoor air; Toluene.