Cancer risk from polycyclic aromatic compounds in fine particulate matter generated from household coal combustion in Xuanwei, China

K H Lui; Benjamin A Musa Bandowe; Linwei Tian; Chi-Sing Chan; Jun-Ji Cao; Zhi Ning; S C Lee; K F Ho

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.112

Cancer risk from polycyclic aromatic compounds in fine particulate matter generated from household coal combustion in Xuanwei, China

Chemosphere. 2017 Feb:169:660-668. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.112. Epub 2016 Nov 29.

Authors

K H Lui¹, Benjamin A Musa Bandowe², Linwei Tian³, Chi-Sing Chan¹, Jun-Ji Cao⁴, Zhi Ning⁵, S C Lee⁶, K F Ho⁷

Affiliations

¹ The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
² Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Falkenplatz 16, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
³ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710075, China; Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
⁵ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁶ Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Research Center of Urban Environmental Technology and Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
⁷ The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710075, China. Electronic address: kfho@cuhk.edu.hk.

PMID: 27912191
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.112

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their polar derivatives (oxygenated PAHs: OPAHs and azaarenes: AZAs) were characterized in fine particulates (PM_2.5) emitted from indoor coal combustion. Samples were collected in Xuanwei (Yunnan Province), a region in China with a high rate of lung cancer. A sample from the community with the highest mortality contained the highest total concentration of PAHs, OPAHs and AZAs and posed the highest excess cancer risk from a lifetime of inhaling fine particulates. Positive correlations between total carbonyl-OPAHs, total AZAs and total PAHs implied that the emissions were dependent on similar factors, regardless of sample location and type. The calculated cancer risk ranged from 5.23-10.7 × 10^-3, which is higher than the national average. The risk in each sample was ∼1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that deemed high risk, suggesting that the safety of these households is in jeopardy. The lack of potency equivalency factors for the PAH derivatives could possibly have underestimated the overall cancer risk.

Keywords: Azaarenes; Cancer risk; Coal; Indoor air; Oxygenated PAHs; PAHs.

MeSH terms

Air Pollution, Indoor / adverse effects
Air Pollution, Indoor / analysis*
China
Coal / analysis*
Humans
Inhalation Exposure / analysis*
Neoplasms / mortality*
Oxygen / chemistry
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / chemistry*
Particulate Matter / toxicity
Particulate Matter / urine
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / toxicity
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / urine
Regression Analysis
Risk Assessment

Substances

Coal
Particulate Matter
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Oxygen