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Temporal Variation and Industry-Specific Differences of the Use of Volatile Organic Compounds from 2018 to 2023 and Their Health Risks in a Typical Industrially Concentrated Area in South China

Authors :
Yijia Guo
Lihua Zhu
Liyin Zhang
Xinxin Tang
Xinjie Li
Yiming Ge
Feng Li
Jilong Yang
Shaoyou Lu
Jinru Chen
Xiaotao Zhou
Source :
Toxics, Vol 12, Iss 9, p 634 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

The risk of occupational exposure to organic solvents varies across industries due to factors such as processing materials, ventilation conditions, and exposure duration. Given the dynamic nature of organic solvent use and occupational exposures, continuous monitoring and analysis are essential for identifying high-risk hazards and developing targeted prevention strategies. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the use of organic solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different industries in Bao’an District, Shenzhen, China, from 2018 to 2023, to understand their temporal variation and industry-specific differences and to identify high-risk occupational hazards. This study includes 1335 organic solvent samples, used by 414 different industry enterprises, and 1554 air samples. The result shows that the usage of organic solvents in various industries decreased with the outbreak of the pandemic and, conversely, increased as the situation improved. The most frequently detected volatile components in organic solvents were alkanes, followed by aromatic hydrocarbons. The ratios of the detection frequency of VOCs to the total number of detected categories increased year by year after 2020, indicating a tendency towards reduction and concentration of the types of organic solvents used in industrial production. Among the 8 high-risk VOCs, toluene (22.5%), n-hexane (22.0%), xylene (16.1%), and ethylbenzene (15.3%) have relatively high detection rates, suggesting that they need to be focused on in occupational health. Through air samples, the results show that trichloroethylene and xylene pose a high risk to human health (HQ > 1). We recommend that industry should strengthen monitoring of these two VOCs.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23056304
Volume :
12
Issue :
9
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Toxics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.44ca6d61547f4559817a34090985666f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12090634