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Seasonal Disparities of Human Health Risk and Particle-Bound Metal Characteristics Associated with Atmospheric Particles in a Fishery Harbor

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Abstract

The effects of atmospheric pollution from ship emissions have been considered for several harbors worldwide. The health risk assessment and source apportionment of particle-bound metals in a fishery harbor were investigated in this study. The most abundant metal elements in particulate matter (PM) on all sampling days in three seasons were Fe (280.94 ± 136.93 ng/m3), Al (116.40 ± 71.25 ng/m3), and Zn (110.55 ± 26.70 ng/m3). The ratios of V/Ni were 1.44 ± 0.31, 1.48 ± 0.09 and 1.87 ± 0.06 in PM10, PM2.5, and PM1, respectively. Meanwhile, the ratios higher than 1 indicated that fuel oil combustion from ship emission in fishery harbor. The highest deposits of total particle-bound metals in the human respiratory tract were in the head airway (HA), accounting for 76.77 ± 2.29% of the total particle-bound metal concentration, followed by 5.32 ± 0.13% and 2.53 ± 0.15% in the alveolar region (AR) and tracheobronchial (TB) region, respectively. The total cancer risk (CR) of inhalation exposure to local residents exceeded 10−6. Mean total CR values followed the sequence: autumn (1.24 × 10−4) > winter (8.53 × 10−5) > spring (2.77 × 10−6). Source apportionment of related metal emissions was mobile pollution emissions (vehicle/boat) (37.10–48.92%), metal fumes of arc welding exhaust (19.68–34.42%), spray-painting process (12.34–16.24%), combustion emissions (6.32–13.12%), and metal machining processes (9.04–16.31%) in Singda fishing harbor. These results suggest that proper control of heavy metals from each potential source in fishing harbor areas should be carried out to reduce the carcinogenic risk of adverse health effects.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due [REASON WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the National Science and Technology Council in Taiwan for the financial support under the Grant No. 108-2221-E-166-003-MY2.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council in Taiwan for the financial support under the G. No. 108–2221-E-166–003-MY2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Safety Health and Environmental Engineering, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, 406, Taiwan

    Cheng-Yun Tsai

  2. Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 804, Taiwan

    Yen-Ping Peng

  3. Department of Biotechnology, National Formosa University, Yunlin, 632301, Taiwan

    Chia-Hua Lin, Chia-Hsiang Lai & Pin-Hao Qiu

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, National Chi Nan University, Nantou, 545, Taiwan

    Ku-Fan Chen

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Contributions

The first author (C-Y.T.) planed the research program and summarized data. The first draft of the manuscript was written by the corresponding author (Professor C-H.L.). Y-P.P., C-H.L., K-F.C. and P–H.Q. carried out the sampling and analysis works. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chia-Hsiang Lai.

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Tsai, CY., Peng, YP., Lin, CH. et al. Seasonal Disparities of Human Health Risk and Particle-Bound Metal Characteristics Associated with Atmospheric Particles in a Fishery Harbor. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 85, 438–450 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-01037-7

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