The Health Risks of Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): Upper North Thailand

Every year, Northern Thailand faces haze pollution during the haze episode. The particulate matter (PM), including fine fraction (PM_2.5), a coarse fraction (PM_2.5-10), and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), was measured in six provinces in upper north Thailand during the haze and non-haze episodes in 2018. Eighty-three percent of the PM_2.5 measurements (21.8-194.0 µg/m³) during the haze episode exceeded the national ambient air quality standard in Thailand. All 16 PAHs were detected in the study area in both periods. The average concentration of total PAHs (particle-bound and gas-phase) during the haze episode was 134.7 ± 80.4 ng/m³, which was about 26 times higher than those in the non-haze (5.1 ± 9.7 µg/m³). Naphthalene and acenaphthene were the dominant PAHs in the gas phase; whereas, indeno[123-cd] pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, and Benzo[ghi]Perylene were dominant in the particle-bound phase. The estimated inhalation excess cancer risk from PAHs exposure was 9.3 × 10^-4 and 2.5 × 10^-5 in the haze episode and non-haze, respectively. Diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis revealed that PAHs were derived from mixed sources of vehicle emission and solid combustion in the haze episode and vehicle emission in the non-haze period. High pollution levels of PM and large cancer risk attributable to the exposure of PAHs in the haze episode suggest urgent countermeasures to reduce the source emission, especially from the solid combustion in the area.