Investigation of Endocrine disruptor - PAEs and Carcinogenic - PAHs bound to ambient fine particulate matter over Northwest Indo-Gangetic Plain

 Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are classified as priority pollutants by United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA). Some of the PAEs and PAHs are considered as human carcinogens by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In the present study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadruple mass spectrometry (LC-MS QQQ) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of PAEs and PAHs bound to ambient particulate matter. After the method validation, it was deployed for the quantification of PAEs and PAHs bound to PM2.5 collected at a sub urban site in the Northwest Indo-Gangetic Plain. The targeted PAEs in this study are dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di butyl phthalate (DBP), bis (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), bis (2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP) and PAHs are benzo[a]anthracene (B[a]A), benzo[b]fluorenthene (B[b]F), benzo[k]fluorenthene (B[k]F), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), dibenzo[ah]anthracene (D[ah]A), benzo[ghi]perylene (B[ghi]P), and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IND). The measured concentrations of PAEs and PAHs are seasonally varied and the higher concentrations of PAEs were observed in summer and PAHs in winter. DEHP (17.94 ng m-3) and B[b]F (36.13 ng m-3) are the most abundant PAE and PAH measured at the sampling site. The concentrations of B[a]P (4.66 ng m-3; Group 1 carcinogen) exceeded the threshold limits (1 ng m-3) set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of India (NAAQS). Further, the incremental lifetime cancer risk due to inhalation exposure to DEHP and B[a]P were estimated for adults (0.3678 × 10-6 and 1.40 × 10-5 respectively) and children (0.8792 × 10-6 and 3.272 × 10-5 respectively). Also, the cancer risk associated with the inhalation exposure to B[a]P has exceeded the limits (1 ×10-3) set by USEPA at the measurement site.