Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 160 Panzeca Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Syngenta AG, Greensboro, NC 27409, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 2;19(15):9490. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159490.
For the past several decades, a relative potency approach has been used to estimate the human health risks from exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) mixtures. Risk estimates are derived using potency equivalence factors (PEFs; also called relative potency factors [RPFs]), based on the ratio of selected PAHs to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), expressed qualitatively by orders of magnitude. To quantify PEFs for 18 selected carcinogenic PAHs, a systematic approach with a priori and dose response criteria was developed, building on draft work by the US EPA in 2010 and its review by US EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) in 2011. An exhaustive search for carcinogenicity studies that included both target PAHs and BaP with environmentally relevant exposure routes found only 48 animal bioassay datasets (mostly pre-1992 based on skin painting). Only eight datasets provided adequate low-response data, and of these only four datasets were appropriate for modeling to estimate PEFs; only benzo[b]fluoranthene and cyclopenta[c,d]pyrene had a PEF that could be quantified. Thus, current knowledge of PAH carcinogenicity is insufficient to support quantitative PEFs for PAH mixtures. This highlights the long-acknowledged need for an interdisciplinary approach to estimate risks from PAH mixtures. Use of alternative and short-term toxicity testing methods, improved mixture characterization, understanding the fate and bioavailability of PAH mixtures, and understanding exposure route-related differences in carcinogenicity are discussed as ways to improve the understanding of the risks of PAHs.
在过去几十年中，人们一直采用相对效力方法来评估多环芳烃（PAH）混合物暴露对人体健康的风险。风险评估是基于选择的 PAH 与苯并[a]芘（BaP）的比值，并使用效力等效因子（PEF；也称为相对效力因子[RPF]）来推导，其通过数量级定性表示。为了量化 18 种选定的致癌 PAH 的 PEF，我们采用了一种系统的方法，该方法具有先验和剂量反应标准，并借鉴了美国环保署在 2010 年的草案工作及其在 2011 年的科学咨询委员会（SAB）审查。通过详尽的搜索，找到了包括目标 PAH 和 BaP 以及具有环境相关性的暴露途径的致癌性研究，仅找到了 48 个动物生物测定数据集（大多数基于皮肤涂敷，基于 1992 年之前）。只有八个数据集提供了足够的低响应数据，其中只有四个数据集适合建模以估算 PEF；只有苯并[b]荧蒽和环戊[c,d]芘具有可以量化的 PEF。因此，目前对 PAH 致癌性的了解不足以支持 PAH 混合物的定量 PEF。这突显了长期以来人们认识到需要采用跨学科方法来评估 PAH 混合物的风险。讨论了使用替代和短期毒性测试方法、改进的混合物表征、了解 PAH 混合物的命运和生物利用度以及了解与暴露途径相关的致癌性差异等方法，以提高对 PAH 风险的认识。
