Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk estimation of Indoor TVOCs, RSPM and Fine Particulate matter on young women dwellers in the capital city of most polluted state of India
Authors: Zehra Farheen , Dwivedi Samridhi , Ali Mohd Akbar , Rajinikanth P. S. , Lawrence Alfred 
Published: July 2024

Total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs),respiratory suspended particulate matter (RSPM) i.e. (PM10,PM2.5) and fine particulate matter (FPM) i.e.PM1 have been found to exert negative impact on the women health, and may even lead cancer on prolonged exposure. Since women spend most of their time indoors, they are at greater risk of indoor pollution. This study was conducted to see the effect of indoor RSPM, FPM and TVOCs on women health predominantly on young women dwellers (specifically categorized into pre-teenagers i.e., 8–12 years, teenagers i.e., 13–19 years and post-teenagers i.e., 20–21 years). Indoor monitoring was conducted from November 2022 to February 2023 in six different urban households of Lucknow, capital city of most polluted and populated state of India. Envirotech APM 550 for RSPM, APM 577 for FPM and portable sensors (BR-SMART) were used to measure TVOCs. The highest average indoor concentrations was found to be 250.1 ± 14.11µg/m3 (PM10) at Rajajipuram, 140.62 ± 19.71µg/m3 (PM2.5) at Indranagar, 27.60 ± 1.87µg/m3 (PM1) and 934 ± 70.41 µg/m3 (TVOCs) at Kaiserbagh. To elucidate the spatial dynamics of these pollutants, the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was employed. Additionally, site-specific analysis of PM mass ratios (PM2.5/PM10, PM1/PM2.5 and PM1/PM10) elucidated the particle size distribution and their sources, such as vehicle emissions and secondary aerosols, significantly enhancing the scientific understanding of aerosol dynamics in these urban settings. The study utilised sophisticated statistical methods in it’s source apportionment analysis to identify and measure the specific contributions of various indoor sources to the total pollution levels. Health risk assessment was also determined using average daily dose (ADD), excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) and hazard quotient (HQ) for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk. ELCR values for PM1 and PM2.5 surpassed the permissible limit in every house, demonstrating a probable cancer-causing risk and HQ value also exceeded the minimum allowable value for 20–21 year age group at all of the locations, indicating substantial health risk from exposure. International Committee of Radiological Protection Model (ICRP) and Multiple Path Particle Dosimetry (MPPD) modeling were used to see the regional deposition of PMs on the young women dwellers. The ICRP results showed that deposition is higher for PM10 in head airways and results of MPPD revealed that the highest deposition in pulmonary region was tend to be in post teenagers, whereas, highest deposition in head region was in pre teenagers and teenagers. Hence, consociate to harmful pollutants at these stages might be tremendously hazardous which are often overlooked. According to the study, the results are very alarming and concerning, the indoor air exposure to PMs and TVOCs may raise the risk of various diseases in young women and may ultimate lead to cancers. High concentration exposure during young age is very harmful and may be a cause of various diseases during their motherhood and even cause concerning and problems in new borns.