Comprehensive Health Risk Assessment of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Chemical Composition in an Urban Megacity: A Case Study from Greater Cairo Area
2025
Eliane Farah | Marc Fadel | Hassan R. Dhaini | Nansi Fakhri | Minas Iakovides | Salwa K. Hassan | Mohamed Boraiy | Mostafa El-Nazer | Ali Wheida | Magdy Abdelwahab | Stéphane Sauvage | Agnès Borbon | Jean Sciare | Frédéric Ledoux | Charbel Afif | Dominique Courcot
While many studies on the health effects of PM<sub>2.5</sub> exist, the risks of PM<sub>2.5</sub> species remain largely unexplored in Middle Eastern and North African countries. This study assesses, for the first time, the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks for elements, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) bound to PM<sub>2.5</sub> in the Greater Cairo Area. A total of 59 samples were collected from an urban site in Dokki (November 2019–January 2020). Chemical analysis showed higher concentrations of PCDFs (5418 fg/m<sup>3</sup>) than PCDDs (1469 fg/m<sup>3</sup>), with DL-PCBs being the most abundant (6577 fg/m<sup>3</sup>). Health risk assessment for inhalation showed non-carcinogenic risks for all age groups, especially for newborns. Manganese (Mn) and lead (Pb) posed the highest elemental non-carcinogenic risk, while the hazard quotient (HQ) for PAHs exceeded 1 across all ages. PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL-PCBs showed an estimated cancer risk reaching 10<sup>−6</sup> in adults, indicating a significant health concern. Key contributors to cancer risk included arsenic (As), chromium (Cr(VI)), and vanadium (V), which accounted for over 80% of the total elemental cancer risk. Major and trace elements posed the highest lifetime cancer risk, nearly 37 times the acceptable level.
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