Arsenic in outdoor air particulate matter in China: Tiered study and implications for human exposure potential

Özet

Arsenic can be easily enriched in air particulate matter and has been identified to be associated with many of diseases, including lung cancer. Tiered data regarding arsenic in ambient air particulate matter is limited in China, particularly data from small cities and rural areas. In this study, 918 outdoor air total suspended particulate samples were collected from 19 districts of 7 provinces in China (Hunan, Hubei, Hebei, Shanghai, Guangdong, Yunnan, and Shanxi) from January 2013 to September 2015. Results showed that arsenic concentrations fluctuated from 0.85 to 185 ng/m3 (geometric mean (GM): 11.7 ng/m3 ). The highest GM was observed in Hunan (20.5 ng/m3 ), followed by Hebei (18.8 ng/m3 ), Hubei (15.9 ng/m3 ), Shanxi (13.2 ng/m3 ), Yunnan (8.67 ng/m3 ), Guangdong (7.62 ng/m3 ), and Shanghai (6.34 ng/m3 ). All GMs exceeded the Chinese limit of 6 ng/m3 (annul average values in total suspended particulate matters) in ambient air. In general, winter and spring were characterized by higher arsenic concentrations in ambient air in comparison to summer and autumn. Rural areas in Hunan and Shanghai had higher levels of arsenic in air than their urban areas. The daily intake of arsenic through inhalation was estimated. Higher daily intake of arsenic through inhalation was observed in children in comparison to other age groups. Human exposure to arsenic via inhalation represented by daily intake was minor when compared with other pathways such as dietary intake; however, the potential adverse effects on sensitive and general populations in China require further study