Carcinogenic and human health risk assessment of children’s and adults’ exposure to toxic metal(oid)s from air PM10 in critical sites of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

With global urbanization and industrialization, air pollution has become an inevitable problem. Among air pollutants, toxic metals bound to particulate matter (PM) have a high hazardous potential, contributing to the development of several diseases, including various types of cancer. Due to PM pollution, Serbia is considered to be among the most polluted countries in Europe. Therefore, the objective of the study was to assess and characterize the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of children’s and adults’ exposure to metal(oid)s (Pb, Cd, Ni, and As) bound to PM10 in five of the most polluted areas in the Republic of Serbia (Subotica, Smederevo, Bor, Valjevo, and Kraljevo). Non-carcinogenic (HQ and HI) and carcinogenic risk (CR) were calculated using USEPA methodology. Our results show that PM10 concentrations exceeded the annual limit of 40 μg/m3 at four out of five monitoring sites (ranging from 44.33 to 63.25 μg/m3). Results obtained from Bor monitoring station show that safe limits were exceeded for both children and adults, indicating an unacceptable risk (> 1) obtained for inhalation exposure to the As (HQ = 6.14) and Cd (HQ = 1.17), while total HI was 7.43, which characterized the risk as unacceptable. For the same station, the CR value was 1.44E−04 (> 1 × 10−4). In other sites, the risks were acceptable. The characterized risk from exposure to the toxic elements via PM10 in critical locations in Serbia contributes to improving air quality by requiring regulatory organs to take new actions and adopt new measures to reduce air pollution.