Polycylic Aromatic Hydrocsbons as hazardous pollutant: Sources, impact on the environment and human health, monitoring and preventive strategies

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are organic pollutants that exhibit low solubility and high boiling points hence, contaminate the environment. This paper explores the environmental and health effects of PAHs, methods for monitoring and assessing their presence, and preventive measures to mitigate their pollution. PAHs are created when organic materials burn completely, though they may stay in the environment for an extended period of time. Human activities like industrial emissions, burning of waste, exhaust from vehicles, aero plane, smoking, gas burners, and coal cooking are the main sources of PAHs. Marine fishes, humans and invertebrates and so on has been found to be contaminated with PAHs through various routes of exposure like inhalation, food, water sediments, maternal transmission, soil and trophic transfer. These compounds have diverse effects on the environment and human health. Many researchers have focused on the carcinogenic toxicity of the pollutant. They are concentrated in worldwide and found in many African continents due to human activities and combustion processes. They enter the environment and leads to bioaccumulation in food chains and hence cause direct or indirect detrimental human health risks like cancer of (skin, breast, liver, bladders) asthma, cardiovascular illness, bronchitis and so on. Monitoring PAH level is crucial due to their widespread presence in the environment. Various techniques like mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), toxic equivalency (TEQ), toxic equivalency factor (TEF), gas chromatography (GC), use of biomarkers, are used to evaluate and assess the danger of PAH. Additionally, preventive measures include use of ingredients with antioxidants qualities and acidic substances in cooking and marinades, use of electric or gas boilers instead of charcoal, Nanoparticle (NP)-based eco-engineered bioremediation.