Cited by 58Toxic Organic Pollutants ImpactAir Quality and Health ImpactsEnvironmental Justice and Health Disparities

Time trends of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in New York city from 2001 to 2012: Assessed by repeat air and urine samples

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Jung, Kyung Hwa, Liu, Bian, Lovinsky-Desir, Stephanie, Yan, Beizhan, Camann, David, Sjodin, Andreas, Li, Zheng, Perera, Frederica +3 more·2014·Environmental Research

Abstract

Background Exposure to air pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and specifically pyrene from combustion of fuel oil, coal, traffic and indoor sources, has been associated with adverse respiratory health outcomes. However, time trends of airborne PAH and metabolite levels detected via repeat measures over time have not yet been characterized. We hypothesized that PAH levels, measured repeatedly from residential indoor and outdoor monitors, and children׳s urinary concentrations of PAH metabolites, would decrease following policy interventions to reduce traffic-related air pollution.Methods Indoor PAH (particle- and gas-phase) were collected for two weeks prenatally (n=98), at age 5/6 years (n=397) and age 9/10 years (n=198) since 2001 and at all three age-points (n=27). Other traffic-related air pollutants (black carbon and PM2.5) were monitored indoors simultaneous with PAH monitoring at ages 5/6 (n=403) and 9/10 (n=257) between 2005 and 2012. One third of the homes were selected across seasons for outdoor PAH, BC and PM2.5 sampling. Using the same sampling method, ambient PAH, BC and PM2.5 also were monitored every two weeks at a central site between 2007 and 2012. PAH were analyzed as semivolatile PAH (e.g., pyrene; MW 178-206) (∑8PAH(semivolatile): Including pyrene (PYR), phenanthrene (PHEN), 1-methylphenanthrene (1-MEPH), 2-methylphenanthrene (2-MEPH), 3-methylphenanthrene (3-MEPH), 9-methylphenanthrene (9-MEPH), 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene (1,7-DMEPH), and 3,6-dimethylphenanthrene (3,6-DMEPH)) and the sum of eight nonvolatile PAH (∑8PAH(nonvolatile): Including benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene/iso-chrysene (Chry), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbFA), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkFA), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene (IP), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DahA), and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (BghiP); MW 228-278). A spot urine sample was collected from children at child ages 3, 5, 7 and 9 between 2001 and 2012 and analyzed for 10 PAH metabolites.Results Modest declines were detected in indoor BC and PM2.5 levels between 2005 and 2012 (Annual percent change [APC]=-2.08% [p=0.010] and -2.18% [p=0.059] for BC and PM2.5, respectively), while a trend of increasing pyrene levels was observed in indoor and outdoor samples, and at the central site during the comparable time periods (APC=4.81%, 3.77% and 7.90%, respectively; p<0.05 for all). No significant time trend was observed in indoor ∑8PAH(nonvolatile) levels between 2005 and 2012; however, significant opposite trends were detected when analyzed seasonally (APC=-8.06% [p<0.01], 3.87% [p<0.05] for nonheating and heating season, respectively). Similarly, heating season also affected the annual trends (2005-2012) of other air pollutants: the decreasing BC trend (in indoor/outdoor air) was observed only in the nonheating season, consistent with dominating traffic sources that decreased with time; the increasing pyrene trend was more apparent in the heating season. Outdoor PM2.5 levels persistently decreased over time across the seasons. With the analyses of data collected over a longer period of time (2001-2012), a decreasing trend was observed in pyrene (APC=-2.76%; p<0.01), mostly driven by measures from the nonheating season (APC=-3.54%; p<0.01). In contrast, levels of pyrene and naphthalene metabolites, 1-hydroxypyrene and 2-naphthol, increased from 2001 to 2012 (APC=6.29% and 7.90% for 1-hydroxypyrene and 2-naphthol, respectively; p<0.01 for both).Conclusions Multiple NYC legislative regulations targeting traffic-related air pollution may have led to decreases in ∑8PAH(nonvolatile) and BC, especially in the nonheating season. Despite the overall decrease in pyrene over the 2001-2012 periods, a rise in pyrene levels in recent years (2005-2012), that was particularly evident for measures collected during the heating season, and 2-naphthol, indicates the contribution of heating oil combustion and other indoor sources to airborne pyrene and urinary 2-naphthol.

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  • PAHs and their metabolites can be found in the blood of adults, children and neonates, as well as in urine and maternal milk.

    “Advances in bioanalytical methods have now revealed that PAHs and their metabolites can be found in the blood of adults,24, 25, 26, 27 children28, 29 and neonates,26, 30 as well as in urine18, 31, 32, 33 and maternal milk.26”

    From The impact of airborne pollution on skin (2019) · cites this paper as [32]

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Authors
Jung, K. H., Liu, B., Lovinsky-Desir, S., Yan, B., Camann, D., Sjodin, A., Li, Z., Perera, F., Kinney, P., Chillrud, S., & Miller, R. L.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (US)
  • Southwest Research Institute (US)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Miller, Rachel L.
Venue
Environmental Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-05
Volume
131
Pages
95-103
ISSN
0013-9351 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2163891660
Cited by
58
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 1
FWCI
5.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Columbia Academic Commons (Columbia University)
Funders
  • New York Community Trust
  • Educational Foundation of America
  • Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund
  • National Institutes of Health (RD832096, P01ES09600)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01 ES 08977, P50ES015905, P01ES009600, #P01 ES09600, R01ES013163, P30-ES09089, R01ES008977, P30ES009089)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
Keywords
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pyrene, urinary PAH metabolites, temporal trends, traffic-related air pollution, black carbon, PM2.5, indoor air pollution, children's exposure, New York City, benzo[a]pyrene, children's respiratory health, prenatal exposure
MeSH terms
Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Vehicle Emissions, Carbon, Child, Child, Preschool, Environmental Monitoring, Female, Housing, Humans, Male, New York City, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Pregnancy, Prospective Studies, Particulate Matter

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