Benzo[a]pyrene in Moscow road dust: pollution levels and health risks.

Environ Geochem Health

Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation.

Published: May 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a harmful chemical found in road dust, especially in big cities like Moscow.
  • In Moscow, the amount of BaP in road dust is much higher than in the regular soil nearby, with parking lots and large roads being the most polluted areas.
  • People might be at risk from BaP mostly through swallowing dust particles, with the highest risk happening in courtyard areas of the city.

Article Abstract

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is one of the priority pollutants in the urban environment. For the first time, the accumulation of BaP in road dust on different types of Moscow roads has been determined. The average BaP content in road dust is 0.26 mg/kg, which is 53 times higher than the BaP content in the background topsoils (Umbric Albeluvisols) of the Moscow Meshchera lowland, 50 km east of the city. The most polluted territories are large roads (0.29 mg/kg, excess of the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) in soils by 14 times) and parking lots in the courtyards (0.37 mg/kg, MPC excess by 19 times). In the city center, the BaP content in the dust of courtyards reaches 1.02 mg/kg (MPC excess by 51 times). The accumulation of BaP depends on the parameters of street canyons formed by buildings along the roads: in short canyons (< 500 m), the content of BaP reaches maximum. Relatively wide canyons accumulate BaP 1.6 times more actively than narrow canyons. The BaP accumulation in road dust significantly increases on the Third Ring Road (TRR), highways, medium and small roads with an average height of the canyon > 20 m. Public health risks from exposure to BaP-contaminated road dust particles were assessed using the US EPA methodology. The main BaP exposure pathway is oral via ingestion (> 90% of the total BaP intake). The carcinogenic risk for adults is the highest in courtyard areas in the south, southwest, northwest, and center of Moscow. The minimum carcinogenic risk is characteristic of the highways and TRR with predominance of nonstop traffic.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01287-9DOI Listing

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