Assessment of carcinogenic risk due to inhalation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in PM₁₀ from an industrial city: A Korean case-study

This study investigated the effects of meteorological conditions and spatial variations on the toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in airborne PM₁₀ in Ulsan, the largest industrial city in Korea. Daily PM₁₀ samples were collected on quartz microfiber filters using high volume samplers located in a downtown area, a residential area and an industrial area of Ulsan during spring and summer sampling periods. Sixteen individual PAHs were extracted into a mixture solution of dichloromethane and n-hexane (1:1, v/v) in an ultrasonic bath and were analyzed using a high performance liquid chromatography system with an ultra-violet detector (HPLC-UVD). The average total PAH concentrations from the three representative sampling sites of Ulsan ranged from 16.15 to 57.12ng/m³ in spring and from 11.11 to 34.56ng/m³ in summer. The toxicity equivalent concentrations (TEQs) of the PAHs in PM₁₀ of Ulsan ranged from 1.82 to 13.1ng/m³, with an average level of 4.17ng/m³. The highest TEQs were found in the downtown area, which had an average value of 6.30ng/m³ in spring and 5.52ng/m³ in summer. BaP and DahA were identified as the major carcinogenic PAHs that contributed to 34.8 and 59.4% of the total carcinogenic potency of PAHs in PM₁₀ in Ulsan. The identified TEQs were highly correlated (r²=0.73–0.90, p