Exposure to PAHs

 

• Breathing air containing PAHs in the workplace of coking, coal-tar, and asphalt production plants; smokehouses; and municipal trash incineration facilities.  Breathing air containing PAHs from cigarette smoke, wood smoke, vehicle exhausts, asphalt roads, or agricultural burn smoke. 

• Coming in contact with air, water, or soil near hazardous waste sites. 

• Eating grilled or charred meats; PAHs can be formed when fat and juices from meat grilled drip directly over a flame or hot coals. Heavy charring of meat also produces PAHs.

• Eating contaminated cereals, flour, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats; and processed or pickled foods.

• Drinking contaminated water or cow's milk.

• Nursing infants of mothers living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to PAHs through their mother's milk.

 

Effects on Health
Mice that were fed high levels of one PAH during pregnancy had difficulty reproducing and so did their offspring. These offspring also had higher rates of birth defects and lower body weights. It is not known whether these effects occur in people.
 

Animal studies have also shown that PAHs can cause harmful effects on the skin, body fluids, and ability to fight disease after both short- and long-term exposure. But these effects have not been seen in people. In the body, PAHs are changed into chemicals that can attach to substances within the body. There are special tests that can detect PAHs attached to these substances in body tissues or blood. However, these tests cannot tell whether any health effects will occur or find out the extent or source of your exposure to the PAHs. The tests aren't usually available in your doctor's office because special equipment is needed to conduct them.
 

PAHs are listed as compounds that “may reasonably be expected to be carcinogens.”
 

Effects on Children
The effects of short-term exposure to children are the same as for adults. However children, who have lower bodyweights than adults, do not require as great an exposure to experience the same health effects as adults. Young children are also prone to behaviours that may increase their potential for exposure, e.g. crawling on bare dirt surfaces, eating soil, and more hand-to-mouth activities.
 

Recommendations
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 0.2 milligrams of PAHs per cubic meter of air (0.2 mg/m3). The OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for mineral oil mist that contains PAHs is 5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour exposure period.
 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that the average workplace air levels for coal tar products not exceed 0.1 mg/m3 for a 10-hour workday, within a 40-hour workweek. There are other limits for workplace exposure for things that contain PAHs, such as coal, coal tar, and mineral oil.
 

The safe distance from a site will be dictated by onsite activities that may result in release of contaminated dust or vapours. Appropriate management of a contaminated site includes ensuring that off-site releases are minimised and do not result in significant exposure to surrounding residents.
 

• Eating contaminated cereals, flour, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats; and processed or pickled foods.

• Drinking contaminated water or cow's milk.

• Nursing infants of mothers living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to PAHs through their mother's milk.
   

* Compiled by Elizabeth Limbrick, New Jersey Institute of Technology Technical Assistance to Brownfield Communities (TAB) Program.  Source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1995.
http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/PDF-files/ph-factsheet-PAHs-health.pdf