Cancer and non-cancer health risk assessment associated with exposure to non-methane hydrocarbons among roadside vendors in Delhi, India

Abstract

This study estimates the cancer and non-cancer health risk among the roadside vendors in Delhi, the capital city of India. Air samples of selected NMHCs and their derivatives were collected from four different sites (one traffic intersection, one industrial, and two residential) in Delhi and were analyzed on Gas Chromatograph (GC) to obtain their atmospheric concentrations. At each site, a survey among the roadside vendors was also conducted to obtain information about their bodyweight and exposure to outdoor ambient air. The study reveals that hazard quotient of 1,3-butadiene is greater than one at all the sites, with its maximum value occurring at the industrial site. The major contributors to the workplace cancer risk (WCR) are found to be 1,3-butadiene and chloroform. The overall WCR is observed to be the highest (9.4 × 10⁻⁴) at the traffic intersection site, followed by the industrial site (7.0 × 10⁻⁴). Cancer incidence data and the population data are also used to estimate the growth of cancer risk in Delhi from 2009 to 2016. Comparison of the WCR values of the four sites with the cancer risk estimated from the cancer incidence data shows that NMHCs and their derivatives are significant contributors to the overall cancer risk in Delhi. Our results suggest that NMHCs and their derivatives need to be given due consideration in the National Cancer Control Programme of India.

Keywords:

• Non-methane hydrocarbons
• health risk
• workplace cancer risk
• hazard index

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support from the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in providing necessary facilities for the study. One of the authors, Dr. Ram Pravesh Kumar is also thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for providing financial support in the form of research fellowship. We are also thankful to the Department of Science and Technology Government of India for providing the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence Grant (DST-PURSE grant) for the consumables required in this work.