Concentrations and Health Risks Related to PAHs in Indoor and Outdoor Air, A Systematic Review

Abstract

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds with two to seven benzene rings and are a group of environmental pollutants. They are produced generally by incomplete combustion of combustible materials such as fossil fuels. Some PAHs are carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic. The databases used in this study were Science Direct, Google Scholar and Springer. Among the 2650 articles found, 17 articles met our criteria. The results show that, the concentration of PAHs in rural areas, both indoor and outdoor (1689.32 and 718.58 µg/m3), is higher than in urban areas (720.86 and 529.79 µg/m3), respectively. Regarding the results, the type of applied fuel is influencing the concentration of PAHs. So that, PAHs released from combustion of coal was higher than remain (10750.1 µg/m3). The highest lifetime cancer risk (LTCRs) and hazard quotient (HQ) were for exposure to the concentrations of indoor PAHS in the rural areas (3.69×10-7 and 2.96×10-6), respectively.