Health Risk Associated with Exposure to PM10 and Benzene in Three Italian Towns

Abstract

Air pollution in urban areas is a major concern as it negatively affects the health of a large number of people. The purpose of this study was to assess the inhalation health risk for exposure to PM₁₀ and benzene of the populations living in three Italian cities. Data regarding PM₁₀ and benzene daily measured by "traffic" stations and "background" stations in Torino, Perugia, and Lecce during 2014 and 2015 were compared to the limits indicated in the Directive 2008/50/EC. In addition, an inhalation risk analysis for exposure to benzene was performed for adults and children by applying the standard United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) methodology. The levels of PM₁₀ detected in Torino exceeded the legal limits in both years with an increased mean concentration >10 µg/m³ comparing with background station. Benzene concentrations never exceeded the legislative target value. The increased cancer risk (ICR) for children exposed to benzene was greater than 1 × 10^-6 only in the city of Torino, while for adults, the ICR was higher than 1 × 10^-6 in all the cities. The results suggest the need for emission reduction policies to preserve human health from continuous and long exposure to air pollutants. A revision of legal limits would also be recommended.

Keywords: MAPEC_LIFE study; air pollution; benzene; exposure; health risk assessment; increased cancer risk; particulate matter.

Figure 1

Location of the three cities involved in the study.

Figure 2

Linear regression between benzene and PM₁₀ concentrations in the stations of (a) Consolata (r = 0.8473); (b) Rubino (r = 0.7986); (c) Rebaudengo (r = 0.7486); (d) Cortonese (r = 0.7839); (e) Fontivegge (r = 0.5260); (f) Garigliano (r = 0.5001); (g) Libertini (r = 0.4179).