Evaluation of the Risk of Air Pollution to People's Health in Taiyuan City

Objective] To study the risk of air pollution to peoples health in Taiyuan. [Methods] During the heating period (December) and non heating period (July) in 1999,levels of SO 2,NO X and B(a)P,As,Cr,Cd,Mn,Pb,etc in TSP were analyzed by using the Method of Public Health Risk Assessment to estimate chemical carcinogen and non carcinogen hazard. [Results] The annual personal risk of non carcinogens is ( 3.240 2 ×10 -5 )·a -1 ,within the acceptable level. Annual public risk is 11.696 2 person·a -1 ;SO 2 is the main pollutant composed 84 40% of the total risk. Annual personal risk of carcinogens is ( 1.614 6 ×10 -4 )·a -1 ,high above the acceptable level of 10 -5 ～10 -6 per year. Public annual risk is 53.085 5 person·a -1 ;As and B(a)P are the main pollutants,which composed 70 86% and 25 15% of the total risk,respectively. The digestive tract is the main route of entry for As pollutant while the respiratory tract is for B(a)P. [Conclusion] In Taiyuan city,As and B(a)P are found to be the most important carcinogenic air pollutants,while SO 2 is the most important non carcinogenic air pollutant. The emphasis should be put on the control of those three pollutants in the future in Taiyuan.