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Quantitative cancer risk assessment and local mortality burden for ambient air pollution in an eastern Mediterranean City

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Abstract

Health risks posed by ambient air pollutants to the urban Lebanese population have not been well characterized. The aim of this study is to assess cancer risk and mortality burden of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and particulates (PM) based on two field-sampling campaigns conducted during summer and winter seasons in Beirut. Seventy NMHCs were analyzed by TD-GC-FID. PM2.5 elemental carbon (EC) components were examined using a Lab OC-EC aerosol Analyzer, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were analyzed by GC-MS. The US EPA fraction-based approach was used to assess non-cancer hazard and cancer risk for the hydrocarbon mixture, and the UK Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) guidelines were followed to determine the PM2.5 attributable mortality burden. The average cumulative cancer risk exceeded the US EPA acceptable level (10−6) by 40-fold in the summer and 30-fold in the winter. Benzene was found to be the highest contributor to cancer risk (39–43%), followed by 1,3-butadiene (25–29%), both originating from traffic gasoline evaporation and combustion. The EC attributable average mortality fraction was 7.8–10%, while the average attributable number of deaths (AD) and years of life lost (YLL) were found to be 257–327 and 3086–3923, respectively. Our findings provide a baseline for future air monitoring programs, and for interventions aiming at reducing cancer risk in this population.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, Mines Douai, the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research, Saint Joseph University (Faculty of sciences and the Research Council), CEDRE (Coopération pour l’évaluation et le développement de la Recherche), and PICS project number 5630 (Programme Interorganismes de Coopération Scientifique du CNRS). This work is also part of the ChArMEx program. ChArMEx is the atmospheric component of the French multidisciplinary program MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated Studies aT Regional And Local Scales). ChArMEx-France was principally funded by INSU, ADEME, ANR, CNES, CTC (Corsica region), EU/FEDER, Météo-France, and CEA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Hassan R. Dhaini

  2. EMMA Laboratory, Center for Analysis and Research, Faculty of Science, University Saint-Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon

    Thérèse Salameh, Antoine Waked & Charbel Afif

  3. Mines Douai, Sciences de l’Atmosphère et Génie de l’Environnement (SAGE), Cedex, 59508, Douai, France

    Thérèse Salameh, Stéphane Sauvage & Nadine Locoge

  4. Université de Lille, 59000, Lille, France

    Thérèse Salameh, Stéphane Sauvage & Nadine Locoge

  5. Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (LaMP), CNRS, UMR-6016, Université Blaise Pascal, 63171, Aubière, France

    Antoine Waked & Agnès Borbon

  6. LISA, UMR-CNRS 7583, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), Université Paris Est Créteil (UPEC), Université Paris Diderot (UPD), Créteil, France

    Agnès Borbon, Paola Formenti & Jean-François Doussin

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  1. Hassan R. Dhaini
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  2. Thérèse Salameh
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  3. Antoine Waked
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  4. Stéphane Sauvage
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  5. Agnès Borbon
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  7. Jean-François Doussin
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  8. Nadine Locoge
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  9. Charbel Afif
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Correspondence to Charbel Afif.

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Dhaini, H.R., Salameh, T., Waked, A. et al. Quantitative cancer risk assessment and local mortality burden for ambient air pollution in an eastern Mediterranean City. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 14151–14162 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9000-y

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