Level of air BTEX in urban, rural and industrial regions of Bandar Abbas, Iran; indoor-outdoor relationships and probabilistic health risk assessment.

This study focused on the measurement of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) concentrations in the air of various regions and indoor-outdoor environments in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Air samples were taken actively and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) during two one-month periods i.e., Feb 2020 (period I) and Sep/Oct 2020 (period II). The mean air temperature and the levels of all BTEX compounds were higher in period II. The highest total BTEX (t-BTEX) levels (median [min-max]) were found in the urban region (18.00 [5.21-67.24] µg m-3), followed by industrial region (7.00 [2.05-14.76] µg m-3) and rural region (2.81 [ND-7.38] µg m-3). The significant positive correlations between all BTEX compounds and T/B ratio >1 indicated the vehicular traffic as the main source of emission. At 95th percentile probability, the non-cancer risk of t-BTEX in urban region was only less than one order of magnitude below the threshold level of unity (1.91E-01) and the cancer risk of benzene exceeded the recommended level of 1.0E-06 by U.S. EPA in urban (7.69E-06) and industrial (2.97E-06) regions. It was found that the indoor/outdoor ratio of BTEX concentration in beauty salon and hospital was greater than 1. Overall, the current levels of BTEX in the ambient air of study area, especially near urban roadside and in some indoor environments, should not be overlooked and appropriate mitigation actions should be undertaken.

The concentration of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) in drinking water and non-carcinogenic risk assessment: A case study in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

In this study, concentration of potentially hazardous elements (PHEs) including slice (Si), strontium (Sr), aluminum (Al), Fluoride (F), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Barium (Ba), Lead (Pb), Lithium (Li), Vanadium (V), selenium (Se), Chrome (Cr), Arsenic (As) and Uranium (U) in tap drinking water (n = 40) and filtration plant (n = 22) in Bandar Abbas city between March to July 2020 were analyzed. Analysis of PHEs ions was conducted by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Also, concentration of F was measured by SPADNS Method. The non-carcinogenic risk in the exposed population (adult and children) were estimated. Concentration of PHEs between tap drinking water and filtration plant was compared using T statistical test. In addition, association among PHEs in tap drinking water and water filtration plant using Pearson correlation coefficient. The rank order of PHEs in tap drinking water was Si (6356.25 µg/l) > Sr (3980 µg/l) > Al (115.42 µg/l) > Fe (30.00 µg/l) > Zn (14.59 µg/l) > Ba (13.91 µg/l) > Pb (13.01 µg/l) > Li (11.60 µg/l) > V (4.43 µg/l) > Se (4.17 µg/l) > Cr (2.51 µg/l) > As (2.00 µg/l) > U (0.65 µg/l) > F (0.31 µg/l) and also in filtration plant was Si (1825.00 µg/l) > Sr (539.00 µg/l) > Fe (45.00 µg/l) > Al (26.00 µg/l) > Zn (8.08 µg/l) > Ba (2.24 µg/l) > Se (1.36 µg/l)> Pb(1.28 µg/l) > Li (1.26 µg/l) > Cr (1.17 µg/l) > F (0.66 µg/l) > V (0.61 µg/l) > As (LOD < ) ~ U (LOD <). The most of PHEs in tap drinking water was considerable different with filtration plant (p value < 0.05) therefore the chemical quality of tap drinking water should be more attention. The results of non-carcinogenic risk assessment revealed that TTHQ in the adults and children due to drinking tap water content of PHEs was 2.59E-3 and 6.05E-3 and filtration plant was 8.88E-04 and 2.07E-03, respectively. Therefore, TTHQ in adults and children was lower than 1; therefore, consumers are in the safe range due to drinking tap water and water filtration plant content of PHEs.