Indoor exposure to heavy metals poses human health risks worldwide, but study reports from Thailand are still limited, particularly in rural and urban areas. We measured the heavy metals in a hundred indoor household dust samples collected from urban and rural areas in Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces and found a significantly higher concentration of As in rural areas and Cd in urban areas with industrial activities. The source identification of the heavy metals showed significant enrichment from traffic emissions, paint, smoking, and mixed sources with natural soil. From health risk assessment models, children were more vulnerable to noncarcinogenic risks (HI = 1.45), primarily via ingestion (HQ = 1.39). Lifetime cancer risks (LCRs) due to heavy metal exposure were found in adults (LCR = 5.31 × 10-4) and children (LCR = 9.05 × 10-4). The cancer risks from As were higher in rural areas via ingestion, while Cr and Ni were higher in urban areas via inhalation and ingestion, respectively. This study estimated that approximately 5 out of 10,000 adults and 9 out of 10,000 children among the population may develop cancer in their lifetime from exposure to indoor heavy metals in this region.
Keywords: cancer risk; health risk assessment; heavy metals; indoor household dust; rural area; source identification; urban area.