Moolla Raeesa, Curtis Christopher J, Knight Jasper
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3 WITS, Gauteng 2050, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Apr 13;12(4):4101-15. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120404101.
Diesel fuel is known to emit pollutants that have a negative impact on environmental and human health. In developing countries like South Africa, attendants are employed to pump fuel for customers at service stations. Attendants refuel vehicles with various octane unleaded fuel, lead-replacement petrol and diesel fuel, on a daily basis. Attendants are at risk to adverse health effects associated with the inhalation of volatile organic compounds released from these fuels. The pollutants released include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), which are significant due to their high level of toxicity. In this study, a risk assessment of BTEX was conducted at a diesel service station for public buses. Using Radiello passive samplers, it was found that benzene concentrations were above recommended international standards. Due to poor ventilation and high exposure duration, the average benzene concentration over the sampling campaign exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency's chronic inhalation exposure reference concentration. Lifetime cancer risk estimation showed that on average there is a 3.78 × 10-4 cancer risk, corresponding to an average chronic daily intake of 1.38 × 10-3 mg/kg/day of benzene exposure. Additionally, there were incidences where individuals were at potential hazard risk of benzene and toluene that may pose non-carcinogenic effects to employees.
众所周知，柴油燃料会排放对环境和人类健康有负面影响的污染物。在南非等发展中国家，加油站雇佣服务员为顾客加油。服务员每天为车辆加注各种辛烷值的无铅燃料、含铅替代汽油和柴油燃料。服务员面临着因吸入这些燃料释放的挥发性有机化合物而产生不良健康影响的风险。释放的污染物包括苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯（BTEX），由于它们的高毒性，这些污染物具有重要意义。在本研究中，对一个公交柴油加油站进行了BTEX风险评估。使用Radiello被动采样器发现，苯浓度高于国际推荐标准。由于通风不良和暴露时间长，采样期间苯的平均浓度超过了美国环境保护局的慢性吸入暴露参考浓度。终生癌症风险估计表明，平均存在3.78×10⁻⁴的癌症风险，对应于苯暴露的平均慢性每日摄入量为1.38×10⁻³mg/kg/天。此外，还有一些情况表明，个人存在苯和甲苯的潜在危害风险，这可能对员工造成非致癌影响。
