Particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in rural households burning solid fuels in Xuanwei County, Southwest China: occurrence, size distribution, and health risks

The study is about the size distribution and health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor environment of Xuanwei, Southwest China particle samples were collected by Anderson 8-stage impactor which was used to gather particle samples to nine size ranges. Size-segregated samples were collected in indoor from a rural village in Xuanwei during the non-heating and heating seasons. The results showed that the total concentrations of the indoor particulate matter (PM) were 757 ± 60 and 990 ± 78 μg/m 3 in non-heating and heating seasons, respectively. The total concentration of indoor PAHs reached to 8.42 ± 0.53 μg/m 3 in the heating season, which was considerably greater than the concentration in the non-heating season (2.85 ± 1.72 μg/m 3 ). The size distribution of PAHs showed that PAHs were mainly enriched in PMs with the diameter <1.1 μm. The diagnostic ratios (DR) and principal component analysis (PCA) showed that coal and wood for residential heating and cooking were the main sources of indoor PAHs. The results of the health risk showed that the total deposition concentration (DC) in the alveolar region (AR) was 0.25 and 0.68 μg/m 3 in the non-heating and heating seasons respectively. Throughout the entire sampling periods, the lifetime cancer risk ( R ) based on DC of children and adults varied between 3.53 ×10 −5 to 1.79 ×10 −4 . During the heating season, the potential cancer risk of PAHs in adults was significant, exceeding 10 −4 , with a rate of 96%. Graphical Abstract