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Industrial areas play an important role in the urban ecosystem. Industrial site environmental quality is linked to human health. Soil samples from two different cities in India, Jamshedpur and Amravati, were collected and analyzed to assess the sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in industrial areas and their potential health risks. The total concentration of 16 PAHs in JSR (Jamshedpur) varied from 1662.90 to 10,879.20 ng/g, whereas the concentration ranged from 1456.22 to 5403.45 ng/g in the soil of AMT (Amravati). The PAHs in the samples were dominated by four-ring PAHs, followed by five-ring PAHs, and a small percentage of two-ring PAHs. The ILCR (incremental lifetime cancer risk) of the soil of Amravati was lower compared to that of Jamshedpur. The risk due to PAH exposure for children and adults was reported to be in the order of ingestion > dermal contact > inhalation while for adolescents it was dermal contact > ingestion > inhalation in Jamshedpur. In contrast, in the soil of Amravati, the PAH exposure path risk for children and adolescents were the same and showed the following order: dermal contact > ingestion > inhalation while for the adulthood age group, the order was ingestion > dermal contact > inhalation. The diagnostic ratio approach was used to assess the sources of PAHs in various environmental media. The PAH sources were mainly dominated by coal and petroleum/oil combustion. As both the study areas belong to industrial sites, the significant sources were industrial emissions, followed by traffic emissions, coal combustion for domestic livelihood, as well as due to the geographical location of the sampling sites. The results of this investigation provide novel information for contamination evaluation and human health risk assessment in PAH-contaminated sites in India.

This study investigated 16 United States environmental protection agency priority PAHs profiles and their sources in 40 urban soils collected from two industrialised cities, Jamshedpur and Bokaro, in east India and assessed their health risk to humans. The results showed the predominance of high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs (4–5 rings). The total PAHs concentration in surface soils ranged from 2223 to 11,266 ng/g and 729 to 5359 ng/g (dw), respectively, for Jamshedpur and Bokaro. Higher concentrations of PAHs were recorded at the selected industrial areas and heavy traffic zones of both cities. In JSR city 4-ring PAHs contributed 43% of total PAHs trailed by 5-ring PAHs 27.2%. Similarly, in BKR city 4-ring PAHs contributed 34% of the total PAHs, followed by 3-ring PAHs 28.9% and 5-ring PAHs 22.9%. Total organic carbon in surface soils exhibited moderate correlation with the low molecular weight (ΣLMW) PAHs (R2 = 0.69) and a comparatively strong correlation with the ΣHMW PAHs (R2 = 0.89), suggesting strong adsorption of HMW PAHs to urban soils. The Diagnostic and PMF modelling analysis indicated that the major sources of PAHs contamination in soils were petroleum combustion, vehicular emissions, biomass, and coal combustion. The health risk assessment shows that the cumulative probability of carcinogenic risks was under the acceptable limits of 10–4 to 10–6. At some sampling areas in both cities, the maximum value of total exposure cancer risk slightly exceeded the acceptable limits indicating some carcinogenic risk for adults.

Ambient VOCs in the vicinity of a petrochemical industrial area were analyzed for their health impact and potential emission sources. Comprehensive measurements of VOCs were conducted based on U.S. EPA TO-15. Potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic inhalation risks were evaluated by comparing the measured concentrations with the inhalation unit risk (IUR) and reference concentration (RfC). The results indicated that a high carcinogenic risk occurred from 1,2 dibromoethane and benzene, while non-carcinogenic risks were attributed to 1,3 butadiene, 1,1,2 trichloroethane, and 3-chloropropene. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) Version 5.0 was further utilized to estimate the contribution of specific sources to the VOC mixing ratio. The results revealed that the average VOC concentration in the community area was dominated by aromatic hydrocarbons, with toluene having the highest concentration. Vehicle exhaust was evaluated as the most contributing emission source of the VOC mixing ratio, followed by industrial processes. Specific VOC ratios were also applied to identify VOC sources. The T/B ratio was within the range 3.54–5.15, confirming that vehicle emissions were the main source of pollutants during the entire investigated period in the community area. As for the industrial area, the average VOC concentration was dominated by alkenes. Industrial processes and the petrochemical industry were the major sources of VOCs. The health risk assessment in the industrial area indicated that acrolein had the highest risk for non-carcinogens. 1,2-dichloroethane and 1,3-butadiene showed high potential as carcinogens.

Wilson’s disease (WD) is caused by copper accumulation in the brain and liver, and if not treated early, can lead to severe disability and death. WD has shown white matter hyperintensity (WMH) in the brain magnetic resonance scans (MRI) scans, but the diagnosis is challenging due to (i) subtle intensity changes and (ii) weak training MRI when using artificial intelligence (AI). Design and validate seven types of high-performing AI-based computer-aided design (CADx) systems consisting of 3D optimized classification, and characterization of WD against controls. We propose a “conventional deep convolution neural network” (cDCNN) and an “improved DCNN” (iDCNN) where rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation function was modified ensuring “differentiable at zero.” Three-dimensional optimization was achieved by recording accuracy while changing the CNN layers and augmentation by several folds. WD was characterized using (i) CNN-based feature map strength and (ii) Bispectrum strengths of pixels having higher probabilities of WD. We further computed the (a) area under the curve (AUC), (b) diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), (c) reliability, and (d) stability and (e) benchmarking. Optimal results were achieved using 9 layers of CNN, with 4-fold augmentation. iDCNN yields superior performance compared to cDCNN with accuracy and AUC of 98.28 ± 1.55, 0.99 (p < 0.0001), and 97.19 ± 2.53%, 0.984 (p < 0.0001), respectively. DOR of iDCNN outperformed cDCNN fourfold. iDCNN also outperformed (a) transfer learning–based “Inception V3” paradigm by 11.92% and (b) four types of “conventional machine learning–based systems”: k-NN, decision tree, support vector machine, and random forest by 55.13%, 28.36%, 15.35%, and 14.11%, respectively. The AI-based systems can potentially be useful in the early WD diagnosis.

Atmospheric PM 2.5 -bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed over urban and rural sites during January to December 2018. Total annual average concentration of PM 2.5 was 74.41 ± 24.96 μg/m 3 over urban and 52.03 ± 13.11 μg/m 3 over rural site during study time. The annual average concentration of PM 2.5 over urban and rural atmospheres were found approximately twice in urban and found also higher over rural site, with respect to National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) standard of 40 μg/m 3 for PM 2.5 concentration. The annual concentration of PAHs was 750.80 ± 19.49 ng/m 3 over urban, and, over rural, it was 559.59 ± 17.56 ng/m 3 . The seasonal variation of concentration of PAHs was in order of winter > post-monsoon > summer > monsoon. The most predominant PAHs were IcP (17.21%), B(ghi) P(15.22%), BkF (11.60%), DBahA (11.34%) and BbF (10.91%) to the total PAH concentration over urban site; over rural site, most predominant PAHs were IcP (16.02%), B(ghi)P, (15.63%), BkF (11.46%), DBahA (11.12%) and BbF (8.99%) of total PAHs. DBahA concentration was contributed approximately 46% carcinogenicity over both urban and rural sites, and BaP contributes 33.56% carcinogenicity over urban site and 34.62% carcinogenicity over rural site of total PAH samples. The Excess Life Time Cancer Risk (ELCR) values over urban were found at acceptable limit 10 -6 –10 -4 given by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Over rural site, the ELCR value was found near about acceptable limit. Diagnostic ratio analysis demonstrated that major sources of PAHs were pyrogenic sources and vehicular emission over study. Air parcel through trajectories over study site also contributed in PAH concentration.

Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of significant interest owing to their high potential health effects, including mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. We report 16 PAHs measured in ambient PM2.5 from June 2018 to May 2019 over three different sites located in central east India. The annual average PM2.5 mass concentrations of 97.3 ± 18.1 µg m−3, 101.9 ± 19.4 µg m−3, and 93.9 ± 20.3 µg m−3 were measured at RCI (Ranchi), GHY (Gamharia), and BKR (Bokaro), respectively. The mass concentrations at all sampling sites are relatively higher than the annual average concentration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Total annual PAH concentrations (ng m−3) are found to be comparable at BKR (797.9 ± 39.1 ng m−3) and RCI (887.7 ± 38.8 ng m−3); however, a relatively higher average is observed over GHY (1015.1 ± 42.7 ng m−3). Using PAH diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis (PCA), their major sources were attributed to coal and wood combustion as well as vehicular emission of diesel and gasoline at all sampling sites. Significant seasonal variability is observed for PAH composition and mainly attributed to change in emission sources. Summer and winter compositions were found to be impacted by the transport from Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). However, ambient level PAHs during the post-monsoon season were impacted by mixed sources from Indo-Gangetic Plain and eastern India. These observations are supported by the analysis of back-trajectory and fire count data. The excess life time cancer risk (ELCR) values estimated for the study sites are within acceptable limits suggesting acceptable risk levels at BKR, GHY, and RCI. This study highlights the significance of ambient aerosol concentration for health risks in the pre-COVID-19 scenario.

Chemical pesticides in the hydrogeological system are a global concern as they pose a severe threat to humans and other organisms. In agriculture, around 4.12 million tonnes of pesticides were used globally in 2018, which is 50% more than in the 1990s. Various pesticides detected in the hydrogeological system of India since the 1990s have been documented and reviewed to understand the prevalence, source, history and degradation pathways. This review contributes to a better understanding of existing pesticide pollution and the state of hydrogeological resource deterioration. Small to excess levels of pesticide residues were detected in groundwater, surface water, soil, and sediments. Pesticides that were most commonly and predominantly found in the hydrogeological system were HCHs, DDTs, endosulfan, heptachlor, drins (aldrin, dieldrin, endrin), chlordane etc. β and γ-HCH isomers among HCHs, whereas p,p′-DDT and p,p′-DDE among the DDTs were detected most prevalently. In many regions, pesticide residue levels in water have exceeded the maximum residue limits of WHO and BIS, while those in soils and sediments have exceeded the threshold effect level and probable effect level. Higher pesticide residues were detected in the water resources of rural agricultural areas compared to peri-urban or urban areas. A positive correlation of pesticide residues between water resources and soil has been observed in some regions, suggesting a similar contamination source. Diagnostic ratios of pesticides reveal their source, history and degradation pathways. Diagnostic ratios observed in various studies conducted in India suggest historical as well as recent use of banned pesticides. Strengthening current policies and regulations, monitoring pesticide use, changes in pesticide application practices, awareness among farmers, and the use of prominent removal techniques are necessary to tackle pesticide contamination in India.

Urban trees' biomonitoring of pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) yields pertinent and useful data for air pollution management. The aim of this study was to biomonitor PAHs in pine ( Pinus eldarica Medw.) trees in the city of Isfahan and identify their sources. In total, 34 samples of outer bark of the trees were collected and their contents of 16 EPA PAHs were analyzed. With a median value of 136.3 ng/g, the total PAH contents in tree barks varied from 53.4 to 705.2 ng/g. The average values of the diagnostic ratios for Ant/(Ant + Phe), Flu/(Flu + Py), BaA/(BaA + Chr) and IP/(IP + BP) were 0.19, 0.49, 0.45 and 0.49, respectively, revealing the PAHs majority source of pyrogenic. Meanwhile, principal component analysis showed two major types of PAHs sources including pyrogenic (fossil fuel combustion and industrial activities) and petrogenic (uncombusted) sources. The average ratio An/(An + Phe) and Flu/(Flu + Py) in bark samples was close to their relevant ratios in ambient air which demonstrated the potential use of this approach for biomonitoring of PAHs.