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Environ Pollut

Title:		Spatiotemporal description of BTEX volatile organic compounds in a Middle Eastern megacity: Tehran Study of Exposure Prediction for Environmental Health Research (Tehran SEPEHR)
Author(s):		Amini H; Hosseini V; Schindler C; Hassankhany H; Yunesian M; Henderson SB; Kunzli N;
Address:		"Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Mechanical Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: vhosseini@sharif.edu. Tehran Air Quality Control Company, Tehran Municipality, Tehran, Iran. Center for Air Pollution Research (CAPR), Institute for Environmental Research (IER), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Environmental Health Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, Canada; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada"
Journal Title:		Environ Pollut
Year:		2017
Volume:		20170419
Issue:
Page Number:		219 - 229
DOI:		10.1016/j.envpol.2017.04.027
ISSN/ISBN:		1873-6424 (Electronic) 0269-7491 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The spatiotemporal variability of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Tehran, Iran, is not well understood. Here we present the design, methods, and results of the Tehran Study of Exposure Prediction for Environmental Health Research (Tehran SEPEHR) on ambient concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, p-xylene, m-xylene, o-xylene (BTEX), and total BTEX. To date, this is the largest study of its kind in a low- and middle-income country and one of the largest globally. We measured BTEX concentrations at five reference sites and 174 distributed sites identified by a cluster analytic method. Samples were taken over 25 consecutive 2-weeks at five reference sites (to be used for temporal adjustments) and over three 2-week campaigns in summer, winter, and spring at 174 distributed sites. The annual median (25(th)-75(th) percentile) for benzene, the most carcinogenic of the BTEX species, was 7.8 (6.3-9.9) mug/m(3), and was higher than the national and European Union air quality standard of 5 mug/m(3) at approximately 90% of the measured sites. The estimated annual mean concentrations of BTEX were spatially highly correlated for all pollutants (Spearman rank coefficient 0.81-0.98). In general, concentrations and spatial variability were highest during the summer months, most likely due to fuel evaporation in hot weather. The annual median of benzene and total BTEX across the 35 sites in the Tehran regulatory monitoring network (7.7 and 56.8 mug/m(3), respectively) did a reasonable job of approximating the additional 144 city-wide sites (7.9 and 58.7 mug/m(3), respectively). The annual median concentrations of benzene and total BTEX within 300 m of gas stations were 9.1 and 67.3 mug/m(3), respectively, and were higher than sites outside this buffer. We further found that airport did not affect annual BTEX concentrations of sites within 1 km. Overall, the observed ambient concentrations of toxic VOCs are a public health concern in Tehran"
Keywords:		Air Pollutants/*analysis Airports Benzene/analysis Benzene Derivatives/analysis Cities/statistics & numerical data Environmental Exposure/analysis/*statistics & numerical data Environmental Monitoring/methods Humans Iran Seasons Toluene/analysis Volatile;
Notes:		"MedlineAmini, Heresh Hosseini, Vahid Schindler, Christian Hassankhany, Hossein Yunesian, Masud Henderson, Sarah B Kunzli, Nino eng England 2017/04/23 Environ Pollut. 2017 Jul; 226:219-229. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.04.027. Epub 2017 Apr 19"