Kelly, Jamie M., Ivatt, Peter D., Evans, Mathew J. orcid.org/0000-0003-4775-032X et al. (6 more authors) (2021) Global Cancer Risk From Unregulated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. GeoHealth. e2021GH000401. ISSN 2471-1403
Abstract
Abstract In assessments of cancer risk from atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), scientists and regulators rarely consider the complex mixture of emitted compounds and degradation products, and they often represent the entire mixture using a single emitted compound—benzo[a]pyrene. Here, we show that benzo[a]pyrene is a poor indicator of PAH risk distribution and management: nearly 90 including unregulated degradation products of emitted PAHs. We develop and apply a global-scale atmospheric model and conduct health impact analyses to estimate human cancer risk from 16 PAHs and several of their N-PAH degradation products. We find that benzo[a]pyrene is a minor contributor to the total cancer risks of PAHs (11; the remaining risk comes from other directly emitted PAHs (72 and N-PAHs (17. We show that assessment and policy-making that relies solely on benzo[a]pyrene exposure provides misleading estimates of risk distribution, the importance of chemical processes, and the prospects for risk mitigation. We conclude that researchers and decision-makers should consider additional PAHs as well as degradation products.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors |
Keywords: | polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,benzoapyrene,air pollution,human health,cancer,mixtures |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2021 11:30 |
Last Modified: | 07 Dec 2024 00:20 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000401 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1029/2021GH000401 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:178491 |
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Filename: 2021GH000401.pdf
Description: Global Cancer Risk From Unregulated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 2.5