Seasonal profiles of atmospheric PAHs in an e-waste dismantling area and their associated health risk considering bioaccessible PAHs in the human lung

Abstract Due to the development of the economy, electronic waste (e-waste) has become a new global problem and e-waste dismantling processes are an important source of air pollution. Among the pollutants emitted, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a severe concern because of their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. However, few studies have investigated the atmospheric PAHs generated by e-waste dismantling in a specific region, especially the PAH levels throughout the year. Thus, we assessed the effects of PAHs on the local air quality by sampling the total suspended particulates (TSP), PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and gaseous phase from an e-waste dismantling area and a control site during four seasons. The TSP, PM 10 , and PM 2.5 concentrations were measured as 84.8–414, 70.7–302, and 57.1–204 μg m −3 , respectively, in this area, and those of three types of particulate bound-PAHs and gaseous phase PAHs were 2.6–16.1, 2.2–15.1, 1.9–14.6, and 20.1–72.8 ng m −3 , respectively. The pollutant levels were higher in the spring and winter than those in the summer and autumn. The PAH sources were identified by diagnostic ratio approaches and principal component analysis. E-waste dismantling was identified as the major source of PAH pollution within this area, where approximately 82.4% of the PAHs was attributed to e-waste dismantling at an industrial park (EP site). Among the sites sampled, the pollutant levels and cancer risk were highest at the EP site, and they could pose a cancer risk for humans, although only the bioaccessible PAHs in human lungs were considered. In particular, infants had a higher health risk than adults, thereby suggesting that air pollution with PAHs is a concern in this area. This study provides clear evidence of the requirement for control measurements of e-waste dismantling processes.