Environmental surveillance in Jinan city of East China (2014-2022) reveals improved air quality but remained health risks attributable to PM2.5-bound metal contaminants.

PM2.5-bound metal contaminants are associated with multiple chronic diseases in human. At global level, the contamination status has not been well controlled yet. Here we report findings from a long-term air pollution surveillance in Jinan city of Shandong, China. During 2014-2022, the dynamics and trends of PM2.5-bound heavy metal contaminants were monitored in an industrial area and a downtown area. The surveillance targets included: antimony (Sb), aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se). The human exposure and health risks were calculated and we found that the health risks of most contaminants showed peak values in autumn and winter. But Al, Mn, Hg and Be were found to result in highest health risk in spring or summer in the downtown area. In the industrial area we identified 100% alarming health index >1 (ranged from 1.12 to 3.35) in autumn and winter. In winter the total non-carcinogenic HI was all above 1 (peak value 2.21). Mn and As together posed >85% non-carcinogenic risk. As and Cd were ranked as major drivers of carcinogenic risks (5.84 × 10 and 2.78 × 10). Pd and Cd both showed non-negligible environmental levels but risk assessment model for their air-exposure associated non-carcinogenic risks are not yet available. This study updates air pollution data and status for air pollution status in China. This study provides valuable 9 year long-term reference to experimental and field studies in the related fields.