Exposure and Risk Assessment to Airborne dl-PCBs and Dioxins in the Population Living in the Neighborhood of a Cement Plant: A Pilot Study in the Valencian Region of Spain.

Emissions from cement manufacturing facilities may increase health risks in nearby populations. For this reason, dioxin-like PCB (dl-PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD), and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) concentrations in PM samples were assessed in the vicinity of a cement manufacturing plant located in the Valencian Region (eastern Spain). The total concentrations of the sum of dl-PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs ranged between 1.85 and 42.53 fg TEQ/m at the assessed stations. The average daily inhalation dose (DID) for the sum in adults ranged from 8.93 · 10 to 3.75 · 10 pg WHO TEQ kg b.w. d, and, for children, the DID ranged from 2.01 · 10 to 8.44 · 10 pg WHO TEQ kg b.w. d. Risk assessment for adults and children was performed using both daily and chronic exposure. The hazard quotient (HQ) was calculated considering 0.025 pg WHO TEQ kg b.w. d to be the acceptable maximum permitted inhalation exposure. The HQ obtained was slightly higher than 1 for PCDD/Fs at one of the stations (Chiva), indicating a possible health risk for the population under study due to inhalation exposure. In the case of chronic exposure, cancer risk (>10) was observed for some samples in one of the assessed sampling sites (Chiva).