The emission characteristic of VOCs and the toxicity of BTEX from different mosquito-repellent incenses

[Display omitted] •Compare VOCs emission in respiratory zone from three types of mosquito repellent incenses.•Determine the chronic daily intake of VOCs from mosquito repellent incenses for different person group.•Evaluate the toxicity of BTEX produced by the burning of different mosquito repellent incenses. Three types of mosquito-repellent incenses including disc, electric liquid and electric mat, were selected to investigate the emission of volatile organic compounds in the respiratory zone during the burning. VOCs were analyzed by GC–MS. Results showed that the average concentration of TVOCs released by using the disc, electric liquid and electric mat mosquito repellent incense types were 7.760 ± 4.724, 3.122 ± 0.866 and 1.192 ± 0.062 mg/m3, respectively. The TVOCs pollution level produced during the burning of different mosquito-repellent incense types was ranked in the order: disc > electric liquid > electric mat. The concentration of TVOCs produced by Q-liquid, L-liquid, Q-disc and L-disc mosquito-repellent incense types could cause discomfort to the human body. Other types of mosquito-repellent incense induced multiple synergistic effects on human response. About 230 kinds of VOCs including 14 types of VOCs, were found in the smoke of mosquito-repellent incense. The number and content of alkanes was the highest, followed by aromatic hydrocarbons and esters. The level of non-carcinogenic health risk presented by exposure to BTEX (toluene, xylene and ethylbenzene) was acceptable. The chronic daily intake of VOCs decreased with age for both males and females, with male exposure being higher than that of the female, except for children.