Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with PM₁₀ emitted from the largest composting facility in the Middle East

Abstract

This work reports a characterization of PAHs-PM₁₀, including associated health effects in the largest composting facility in Tehran, Iran. Measured PAHs-PM₁₀ stemmed primarily from petrogenic sources with mean concentrations between 231.19 to 401.25 ng m⁻³. The distribution pattern of PAHs (in terms of ring number) exhibited the following order when combining all sites: 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 2 rings. The average cumulative excess lifetime cancer risk values estimated for PAHs-PM₁₀ surpassed the U.S. EPA limit (1 × 10⁻⁶): refining site (3.31 × 10⁻⁴) > processing site (1.75 × 10⁻⁴) > aeration site (9.81 × 10⁻⁵).

Keywords:

• Composting facility
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• petrogenic sources
• risk assessment
• high-molecular weight

Acknowledgements

This article is based on the data set from a MSc thesis. The authors acknowledge the Iran University of Medical Sciences for financial support, and also the contribution of Management of Waste for cooperation in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran [grant no. 27592].