Characterizing the spatio-temporal exposure and health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an oilfield, China

ABSTRACT

Regional-scale mass balance models are often used to simulate the multimedia environmental behaviors of organic contaminants. Variables with spatial and temporal characteristics in these models are important factors of their authenticity. The BETR-MFG(IV) model was developed to characterize the spatial and temporal variations as well as health risks of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Daqing City, a typical petroleum industrial city in the Heilongjiang Province, China. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks of these contaminants are assessed on the basis of the BETR-MFG(IV) modeled results. The simulated results showed that the temporal trends of the PAHs in the multimedia environments are in a relative steady state, and the most seriously contaminated area is the municipal districts of Daqing City. It was also demonstrated that the soil is the dominant sink and that the contaminants in the water and sediment are mainly concentrated in the Nanyin Reservoir and Daqing Reservoir. The health risks of the ΣPAHs in the study area primarily come from the pathways of soil ingestion and skin exposure. These findings are helpful to determine the spatio-temporal exposure characteristics of the contaminants, which will provide a scientific guideline for environmental protection and risk management.

KEYWORDS:

• spatio-temporal exposure
• health risks
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• environmental multimedia model

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Elsevier Language Editing Services for the editorial revisions.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Projects in the National Science & Technology Pillar Program in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Period (2008BAC43B01) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in 2013 (JB2013146).