Health risk assessment of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs in atmospheric air of municipal solid waste landfill in Novi Sad, Serbia.

ABSTRACT

The municipal solid waste landfill in Novi Sad, Serbia is in its operative status from early 1980s and represents potential significant source of environmental compartments pollution and the threat to human health as a result of undeveloped waste management practice. Residues of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as toxic, mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic chemicals were investigated in ambient air of landfill site in Novi Sad. Passive air sampling technique was used for the purpose of ambient air sampling. Total risk to the human health is calculated as a sum of individual risks for each group of substances according to the recommended United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) methodology. The overall results indicate that the landfill site in Novi Sad does not pose a relevant treat to human by inhalation of PAHs and POPs. The effect of low concentrations, non-monotonic dose response, synergistic and amplifying effects of chemical complexes must be highly respected while performing future health risk assessment.