A case study on the chemical compositions and health risk of PM2.5

Object In the present study, we carried out a case study on the hour variation of chemical compositions in PM2.5 collected in Gwangju, South Korea, during the high loading PM2.5 period. We also developed the advanced DALYs that can be used as a more practical health-impact assessment index of PM2.5. Methods Particle sampling and simultaneous determination of its chemical compositions were taken place on the roof (13.5 m) of the Honam area air pollution intensive monitoring site (35.15 degrees N; 126.81 degrees E). In this study, we developed a method for calculating DALYs(PM)/Deposition(PM2.5)(g) by age as a new health impact assessment index of PM2.5. For calculating the DALYs(PM)/Deposition(PM2.5) (g) at first, the lifetime Deposition(PM2.5) (g) was calculated, and then the DALYs(PM)/Deposition(PM2.5) (g) was calculated by dividing the DALYs(PM) by Sigma(Death)(i=0) Deposition(PM2.5i)(g) For the calculation of the lifetime Deposition(PM2.5) (g), the average PM2.5 concentration (23 mu g/m(3)) in Gwangju in 2016 [28] was applied. Results The concentrations of Pb, Cr, Mn, As, and Cd in PM2.5 on the event day were 18.1, 7.6, 1.9, 7.6 and 2.0 times higher than those of non-event day, respectively. Pb concentration accounted for 70.6% of the total concentration of 5-hazardous heavy metals and it ranged from 35 to 374 ng/m(3). The deposition amount of PM2.5 at A.I. for 10-year-old children and adults varied greatly depending on their behavior patterns on both event and non-event days. It was 3.1 times higher on event day than on non-event day. Conclusion The concentrations of harmful heavy metals on the event day were 1.9-18.1 times higher than those on nonevent day. The newly developed the DALYs(PM)/Deposition(PM2.5) (g) in this study can be used as a more practical health impact assessment index of PM2.5 than conventional DALYs.