Work

Source appointment, chemical impacts and health risk of volatile organic compounds in an industrial park in Zibo, China

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are priority tropospheric pollutants, characterized by high chemical reactivity and adverse health effects. Industrial emission is a major VOC source, yet studies on its characteristics in industrial parks within Zibo remain limited. This research investigates VOC emissions at two sites (X1 and X2) within an industrial park in Zibo during the summer of 2021, focusing on their sources, chemical impacts, and health risks. Mobile, petrochemical industry and solvent usage were identified as the predominant anthropogenic contributors at both sites. Alkene (X1: 54.71 ppbv, X2: 48.94 ppbv) was the key ozone precursor, and petrochemical industry was the largest contributor to ozone formation (X1: 33.83 ppbv, X2: 40.10 ppbv). Health risk assessment revealed acrolein and 1,3-butadiene as the dominant contributors to non-carcinogenic risk (expressed by hazard ratio, X1: 8.62, X2: 4.19) and carcinogenic risk (expressed by lifetime cancer risk, X1: 2.12×10-5, X2: 2.38×10-5), respectively. Solvent usage (hazard ratio: 4.76, lifetime cancer risk:1.70×10-5) contributed most at X1, while petrochemical industry (hazard ratio: 2.45, lifetime cancer risk:3.35×10-5) was the largest contributor at X2. These findings underscore the need for source-specific mitigation strategies to effectively mitigate ozone and alleviate health risks in industrial regions.

Source: Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

DOI: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2025.100944