IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0079553.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Risk Assessment of Inhalation Exposure to Formaldehyde and Benzene in Newly Remodeled Buildings, Beijing

Author

Listed:
  • Lihui Huang
  • Jinhan Mo
  • Jan Sundell
  • Zhihua Fan
  • Yinping Zhang

Abstract

Objective: To assess health risks associated with inhalation exposure to formaldehyde and benzene mainly emitted from building and decoration materials in newly remodeled indoor spaces in Beijing. Methods: We tested the formaldehyde and benzene concentrations in indoor air of 410 dwellings and 451 offices remodeled within the past year, in which the occupants had health concerns about indoor air quality. To assess non-carcinogenic health risks, we compared the data to the health guidelines in China and USA, respectively. To assess carcinogenic health risks, we first modeled indoor personal exposure to formaldehyde and benzene using the concentration data, and then estimated the associated cancer risks by multiplying the indoor personal exposure by the Inhalation Unit Risk values (IURs) provided by the U.S. EPA Integrated Risk Information System (U.S. EPA IRIS) and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), respectively. Results: (1) The indoor formaldehyde concentrations of 85% dwellings and 67% offices were above the acute Reference Exposure Level (REL) recommended by the OEHHA and the concentrations of all tested buildings were above the chronic REL recommended by the OEHHA; (2) The indoor benzene concentrations of 12% dwellings and 32% offices exceeded the reference concentration (RfC) recommended by the U.S. EPA IRIS; (3) The median cancer risks from indoor exposure to formaldehyde and benzene were 1,150 and 106 per million (based on U.S. EPA IRIS IURs), 531 and 394 per million (based on OEHHA IURs). Conclusions: In the tested buildings, formaldehyde exposure may pose acute and chronic non-carcinogenic health risks to the occupants, whereas benzene exposure may pose chronic non-carcinogenic risks to the occupants. Exposure to both compounds is associated with significant carcinogenic risks. Improvement in ventilation, establishment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission labeling systems for decorating and refurbishing materials are recommended to reduce indoor VOCs exposure.

Suggested Citation

  • Lihui Huang & Jinhan Mo & Jan Sundell & Zhihua Fan & Yinping Zhang, 2013. "Health Risk Assessment of Inhalation Exposure to Formaldehyde and Benzene in Newly Remodeled Buildings, Beijing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-8, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0079553
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079553
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0079553
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0079553&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0079553?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirk R. Smith, 2003. "Indoor Air Pollution," World Bank Publications - Reports 9723, The World Bank Group.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiyao Chen & Fei Li & Chaoyang Liu & Jun Yang & Jingdong Zhang & Chunlin Peng, 2017. "Monitoring, Human Health Risk Assessment and Optimized Management for Typical Pollutants in Indoor Air from Random Families of University Staff, Wuhan City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-13, June.
    2. Raeesa Moolla & Christopher J. Curtis & Jasper Knight, 2015. "Occupational Exposure of Diesel Station Workers to BTEX Compounds at a Bus Depot," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Sunisa Chaiklieng & Pornnapa Suggaravetsiri & Herman Autrup, 2019. "Risk Assessment on Benzene Exposure among Gasoline Station Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-9, July.
    4. Daniel Alvarez-Vaca & Radu Corneliu Duca & Alicia Borras-Santos & Emilie Hardy & Matteo Creta & Carole Eicher & Laurence Wurth & Anne Vergison & An Van Nieuwenhuyse, 2022. "Surveillance of Indoor Air Concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds in Luxembourgish Households," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-9, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gianluigi De Gennaro & Paolo Rosario Dambruoso & Alessia Di Gilio & Valerio Di Palma & Annalisa Marzocca & Maria Tutino, 2015. "Discontinuous and Continuous Indoor Air Quality Monitoring in Homes with Fireplaces or Wood Stoves as Heating System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Stephanie L. Martin & Jennifer K. Arney & Lisa M. Mueller & Edward Kumakech & Fiona Walugembe & Emmanuel Mugisha, 2013. "Using Formative Research to Design a Behavior Change Strategy to Increase the Use of Improved Cookstoves in Peri-Urban Kampala, Uganda," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. James D. Johnston & Megan E. Hawks & Haley B. Johnston & Laurel A. Johnson & John D. Beard, 2020. "Comparison of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cookstoves and Wood Cooking Fires on PM 2.5 Trends in Brick Workers’ Homes in Nepal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Chia-Ching Lin & Chien-Chih Chiu & Po-Yen Lee & Kuo-Jen Chen & Chen-Xi He & Sheng-Kai Hsu & Kai-Chun Cheng, 2022. "The Adverse Effects of Air Pollution on the Eye: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Samar Khairy Ghanem, 2018. "The relationship between population and the environment and its impact on sustainable development in Egypt using a multi-equation model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 305-342, February.
    6. Kyran O'Sullivan & Douglas F. Barnes, 2007. "Energy Policies and Multitopic Household Surveys : Guidelines for Questionnaire Design in Living Standards Measurement Studies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6615.
    7. Takama, Takeshi & Tsephel, Stanzin & Johnson, Francis X., 2012. "Evaluating the relative strength of product-specific factors in fuel switching and stove choice decisions in Ethiopia. A discrete choice model of household preferences for clean cooking alternatives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1763-1773.
    8. Victor M. Berrueta & Montserrat Serrano-Medrano & Carlos García-Bustamante & Marta Astier & Omar R. Masera, 2017. "Promoting sustainable local development of rural communities and mitigating climate change: the case of Mexico’s Patsari improved cookstove project," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 63-77, January.
    9. Anna Ruth Pickett & Michelle L. Bell, 2011. "Assessment of Indoor Air Pollution in Homes with Infants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Sikhumbuzo Archibald Buthelezi & Thandi Kapwata & Bianca Wernecke & Candice Webster & Angela Mathee & Caradee Yael Wright, 2019. "Household Fuel Use for Heating and Cooking and Respiratory Health in a Low-Income, South African Coastal Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-12, February.
    11. Pier Mannuccio Mannucci & Massimo Franchini, 2017. "Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-8, September.
    12. Beyene, Abebe D. & Koch, Steven F., 2013. "Clean fuel-saving technology adoption in urban Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 605-613.
    13. Vijay S. Limaye & Wolfgang Schöpp & Markus Amann, 2018. "Applying Integrated Exposure-Response Functions to PM 2.5 Pollution in India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. García-Frapolli, Eduardo & Schilmann, Astrid & Berrueta, Victor M. & Riojas-Rodríguez, Horacio & Edwards, Rufus D. & Johnson, Michael & Guevara-Sanginés, Alejandro & Armendariz, Cynthia & Masera, Omar, 2010. "Beyond fuelwood savings: Valuing the economic benefits of introducing improved biomass cookstoves in the Purépecha region of Mexico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 2598-2605, October.
    15. Sabrina Naz & Andrew Page & Kingsley Emwinyore Agho, 2015. "Household Air Pollution and Under-Five Mortality in Bangladesh (2004–2011)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, October.
    16. World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia, 2017. "Tobacco control for sustainable development," University of California at San Francisco, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education qt4nn7k3jr, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UC San Francisco.
    17. Barnes, Douglas F. & Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A., 2010. "Energy access, efficiency, and poverty : how many households are energy poor in Bangladesh ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5332, The World Bank.
    18. Deng, Lei & Torres-Rojas, Dorisel & Burford, Michael & Whitlow, Thomas H. & Lehmann, Johannes & Fisher, Elizabeth M., 2018. "Fuel sensitivity of biomass cookstove performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 13-20.
    19. Mestl, Heidi Elizabeth Staff & Eskeland, Gunnar S., 2009. "Richer and healthier, but not Greener? Choices concerning household energy use in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3009-3019, August.
    20. Patel, Sameer & Biswas, Pratim, 2018. "A simplified combustion model integrated with a particle growth dynamic model for top-lit updraft cookstoves," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 658-668.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0079553. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.