Article Type
Research Paper
Highlights
- Novel analysis of 16 priority pollutant PAH compounds in hair samples from 196 participants in the world’s fifth largest population and high-risk polluted sites of the Northern Arabian Sea.
- Hair samples were digested in 2.5 M NaOH: Methanol before analysis on GC-FID.
- Elevated levels of HMW PAHs and, incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) were observed in addicted middle-aged males attributable to PAHs occupational hazards, environmental exposure, and addiction sources.
Abstract
The present biomonitoring study investigated the epidemiological consequences of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of global priority in dietary and addiction sources using human hair as a noninvasive biomarker. This research is novel, conducted for the first time in the hair samples of 196 participants from unprivileged coastal communities along the Northern Arabian Sea, and Middle-Eastern countries. These sites are the international hub of marine economic significance. Heavily polluted by large-scale marine traffic, cargo handling at seaports, fishing harbors, and untreated urban outfalls. The analytes were quantified sequentially by alkali digestion, centrifugal fractioning, and partitioned by gas chromatography with[lw1] flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The study showed the highest mean PAHs body burden of 325.027 μg/kg in the hair samples of the middle-aged male population. The BaP toxicity equivalent concentration and incremental lifetime cancer risk also exceeded the maximum permissible limits in both genders of the middle-aged population varying from 130.7 μg/kg (MPL: 65 μg/kg) to 47631 (MPL: 43800) respectively. The overall mean concentration of noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic PAHs was found in the range of Ant > Flu > Acy > Pyr > Phe > Ace > Flt >Nap and, I [1,2,3-c, d] P > B(a)A > B (g, h, i) P > B(a)P > Chr > B(k)F > B(b)F > DB (a, h) A. Multivariate statistics and principle component analysis (PCA) appeared significant (P < 0.001) in addicted middle-aged males than in non-addicted seafood consumers and female treatment groups. Of crucial interest, this study revealed that addiction, environmental pollution, and occupational hazards imposed a combined effect on significant concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs in the hair samples of the coastal middle-aged male population.
Keywords
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Carcinogenesis, Seafood, Addiction, Hairs, Toxic Equivalent Factor model.
Recommended Citation
Zaidi, Ayesha J.; Akram, Tahira; Haseeb-ur-Rehman, Muhammad; Siddique, Hina A.; and Munshi, Alia B.
(2025)
"Insights into the exposure sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among the coastal population of the Northern Arabian Sea by using human hairs as a noninvasive biomarker,"
Egyptian Journal of Petroleum: Vol. 34
:
Iss.
4
, Article 8.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.62593/2090-2468.1089
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
