Determination of ambient air concentrations and personal exposure risk levels of outdoor workers to carbonyl compounds and BTEX in the inner city of Bangkok, Thailand

The ambient and personal air concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) and carbonyl compounds (CCs) were investigated in Pathumwan district, Bangkok (Thailand), a congested area with a high level of traffic-related air pollution. The potential health risk of three representative groups of street workers (street vendors, motorcycle taxi driver and security guards) exposed to these substances was estimated. The personal air exposure and ambient air samples were collected in the rainy (September 2012) and summer (March 2013) seasons. The 8-h average formaldehyde and acetaldehyde exposure levels for both personal and ambient air concentrations were found to be the major CCs. The highest mean ambient air level of formaldehyde (20.1 μg/m3) was found at the roadside at a busy intersection next to department stores. The highest level of acetaldehyde (9.17 μg/m3) was found in a location with a high traffic load close to the hospital and university. For BTEX, the greatest average concentration was observed around the site located near a bus stop (45.5 μg/m3). In terms of the personal exposure concentrations of CCs and BTEX, no statistically significant differences were found among all sampled locations for street vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers. With respect to the health risk assessment, at a 95% confidence interval (CI) of cancer risk, benzene posed the highest risk followed by formaldehyde and then acetaldehyde (5.36E-06-1.48E-05, 5.58E-06-1.91E-05 and 1.03E-05-5.93E-05 for street vendors, motorcycle taxi driver and security guards) while the 95% CI non-cancer risk values were at an acceptable level. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences in the total cancer risk among the different groups of workers. From the health risk assessment, benzene and formaldehyde were the major traffic related air pollutants that likely affected the human health in this area.