Non-methane hydrocarbons in the atmosphere of a Metropolitan City and a background site in South Korea: Sources and health risk potentials

Hourly concentrations of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were collected at a background monitoring site between April of 2004 and March of 2005 and at suburban and urban sites between March and December of 2006. The sources of NMHCs were identified and associated health risks through the inhalation pathway were evaluated. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) results showed that solvent sources account for the largest portion of the total NMHCs at suburban and urban areas in South Korea, and the risk assessment combined with the PMF results indicated that risk-weighted contributions of solvent sources were enhanced compared to the absolute contribution (from 52% to 68% in suburban areas and from 47% to 80% in urban areas). Carcinogenic risk due to benzene exposure exceeded the one-in-a-million (i.e., 10−6) cancer benchmark at all three study sites, and the fractions of the population with greater than the benchmark level were 87%, 99%, and 98% in the background, suburban, and urban sites, respectively. Common benzene sources of three study sites were predicted to be Shandong in China based on the 120 h potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis.To prioritize management options for NMHC sources, risk term may give more meaningful information than amount term. This study suggests that controlling solvent sources would be better option for the mitigation of non-carcinogenic health risk from airborne NMHCs. In addition, the identification of benzene sources using PSCF can be used to assist policymakers in developing regional measures to reduce benzene.

► Solvent use was the largest source of ambient NMHCs at suburban and urban areas.
► Risk-weighted portion of solvent source was greater than their absolute portion.
► Carcinogenic risk due to benzene exceeded 10−6 benchmark at all three study sites.
► Common benzene sources were predicted to be Shandong in China based on 120 h PSCF