TY - JOUR
T1 - Atmospheric Occurrence of Organochlorine Pesticides and Inhalation Cancer Risk in Urban Areas at Southeast Brazil
AU - Guida, Yago
AU - Carvalho, Gabriel Oliveira de
AU - Capella, Raquel
AU - Pozo, Karla
AU - Lino, Adan Santos
AU - Azeredo, Antonio
AU - Carvalho, Daniele Fernandes Pena
AU - Braga, Alfésio Luís Ferreira
AU - Torres, João Paulo Machado
AU - Meire, Rodrigo Ornellas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/2/15
Y1 - 2021/2/15
N2 - Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been produced for almost a century and some of them are still used, even after they have been proved to be toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative and prone to long-range transport. Brazil has used and produced pesticides in industrial scales for both agricultural and public health purposes. Urban and industrial regions are of special concern due to their high population density and their increased exposure to chemical pollution, many times enhanced by chemical production, application or irregular dumping. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the occurrence of OCPs in outdoor air of urban sites from two major regions of southeast Brazil. Some of these sites have been affected by OCP production and their irregular dumping. Deterministic and probabilistic inhalation cancer risk (CR) assessments were conducted for the human populations exposed to OCPs in ambient air. Ambient air was mainly affected by Ʃ-HCH (median = 340 pg m−3) and Ʃ-DDT (median = 233 pg m−3), the only two OCPs registered for domissanitary purposes in Brazil. OCP concentrations tended to be higher in summer than in winter. Dumping sites resulted in the highest OCP atmospheric concentrations and, thus, in the highest CR estimations. Despite of all limitations, probabilistic simulations suggested that people living in the studied regions are exposed to an increased risk of hepatic cancer. Infants and toddlers (0 < 2 y) were exposed to the highest inhalation CRs compared to other age groups. Other exposure pathways (such as ingestion and dermic uptake) are needed for a more comprehensive risk assessment. Moreover, this study also highlights the need to review the human exposure to OCPs through inhalation and their respective CR in other impacted areas worldwide, especially where high levels of OCPs are still being measured.
AB - Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been produced for almost a century and some of them are still used, even after they have been proved to be toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative and prone to long-range transport. Brazil has used and produced pesticides in industrial scales for both agricultural and public health purposes. Urban and industrial regions are of special concern due to their high population density and their increased exposure to chemical pollution, many times enhanced by chemical production, application or irregular dumping. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the occurrence of OCPs in outdoor air of urban sites from two major regions of southeast Brazil. Some of these sites have been affected by OCP production and their irregular dumping. Deterministic and probabilistic inhalation cancer risk (CR) assessments were conducted for the human populations exposed to OCPs in ambient air. Ambient air was mainly affected by Ʃ-HCH (median = 340 pg m−3) and Ʃ-DDT (median = 233 pg m−3), the only two OCPs registered for domissanitary purposes in Brazil. OCP concentrations tended to be higher in summer than in winter. Dumping sites resulted in the highest OCP atmospheric concentrations and, thus, in the highest CR estimations. Despite of all limitations, probabilistic simulations suggested that people living in the studied regions are exposed to an increased risk of hepatic cancer. Infants and toddlers (0 < 2 y) were exposed to the highest inhalation CRs compared to other age groups. Other exposure pathways (such as ingestion and dermic uptake) are needed for a more comprehensive risk assessment. Moreover, this study also highlights the need to review the human exposure to OCPs through inhalation and their respective CR in other impacted areas worldwide, especially where high levels of OCPs are still being measured.
KW - Chemical dumping sites
KW - Environmental contamination
KW - Human exposure
KW - Outdoor air pollution
KW - Persistent organic pollutants
KW - Risk assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099203546&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116359
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116359
M3 - Article
C2 - 33535363
AN - SCOPUS:85099203546
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 271
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
M1 - 116359
ER -