JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2024, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (4): 200-208.doi: 10.12302/j.issn.1000-2006.202204028

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The exposure characteristic and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils and tobacco plants

MA Jun1,2(), TAN Changyin2, WANG Yong1,*(), WU Lanyan1, QIN Hangdao1   

  1. 1. College of Materials and Chemistry, Tongren University, Tongren 554300, China
    2. School of Geographic Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
  • Received:2022-04-12 Revised:2022-05-11 Online:2024-07-30 Published:2024-08-05
  • Contact: WANG Yong E-mail:junma2015@qq.com;wy7185299@126.com

Abstract:

【Objective】The aim of this research is to determine the exposure characteristic and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and tobacco plants.【Method】Forty samples of soil and fresh tobacco plants were collected from tobacco-growing areas in Changping (CP), Taiping (TP), Pingtou (PT), Pujue (PJ), Panxin (PX) and Mengxi (MX) in Songtao County of Guizhou Province. A total of 16 PAH species were isolated from the samples. The characteristics of PAHs exposure were analyzed after ingestion, dermal administration, and inhalation. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks on farmers were assessed.【Result】The total contents of seven kinds of carcinogenic PAHs [perylene (Chr), benzo(a) anthracene (BaA), benzo(b) fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(k) fluoranthene (BkF), dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DahA), benzo (a) pyrene (BaP), and indeno(1,2,3-cd) pyrene (IP)] in the soil and tobacco samples were 70.97-365.71 and 293.53-1 730.72 μg/kg, and the mean values were 221.13 and 707.03 μg/kg, respectively. The total contents of nine non-carcinogenic PAHs [naphthalene (Nap), anthracene (Ant), phenanthrene (Phe), pyrene (Pyr), acenaphthylene (Ane), diacenaphthylene (Any), fluorene (Flu), fluoranthene (Fla), and benzo (g,h,i) pyrene (BghiP)] were 65.6-647.6 and 108.9-606.1 μg/kg, and the mean values were 379.6 and 304.2 μg/kg, respectively. Analysis of the exposure characteristics of the PAHs revealed that ingestion>dermal>inhalation in terms of the exposure risk. The total average daily exposure of the farmers to the seven carcinogenic PAHs in the soil and tobacco samples was 54.41-280.38 and 225.04-1 326.87 pg/(kg·d), and the mean values were 169.53 and 542.05 pg/(kg·d), respectively. The total average daily exposure of the farmers to the nine non-carcinogenic PAHs in the soil and tobacco samples were 146.70-1448.19 and 243.41-1355.33 pg/(kg·d), and the mean values were 848.91 and 680.22 pg/(kg·d), respectively. The average daily intake (ADI) of the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic PAHs was the highest in MX. The total non-carcinogenic risk index of the PAHs in the soil and tobacco samples to the farmers ranged from 8.39×10-7 to 5.14×10-6, with a mean value of 2.18×10-6. The total carcinogenic risk index of the PAHs to the farmers varied from 8.39×10-7 to 5.14×10-6, with a mean value of 2.18×10-6. The total carcinogenic risk index of BaP was the highest among the PAHs, being 3.69×10-7 to 4.25×10-6, with a mean value of 1.58×10-6. The levels of BaP exceeded the recommended threshold published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) at 26 sites (65%), and the total carcinogenic risk of the seven carcinogenic PAHs was low at 90% of the sampling sites.【Conclusion】Ingestion and dermal exposure were the main exposure routes of the PAHs in the soil and tobacco samples. The carcinogenic risk of the non-carcinogenic PAHs was below the critical value recommended by the USEPA, and their values were at acceptable range. The carcinogenic PAHs had a low health risk to farmers at the majority of sampling sites. However, the carcinogenic PAH, BaP, requires further attention.

Key words: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, soils and tobacco, tobacco farmers, intake way, health risk assessment

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