Browsing by Author "Pozo, Karla"

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    Environmental signature and health risk assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) emitted from a landfill fire in Santiago de Chile
    (2023) Pozo, Karla; Oyola, Germán; Jorquera, Hector; Gomez, Victoria; Galbán-Malagón, Cristobal; Mena-Carrasco, Marcelo; Audy, Ondřej; Příbylová, Petra; Guida, Yago; Estellano, Victor Hugo; Lammel, Gerhard; Klánová, Jana; CEDEUS (Chile)
    Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used as flame retardants in building materials, electronics, furnishings, vehicles, airplanes, plastics, polyurethane foams, and textiles for many years. Currently, the primary commercial mixtures, penta-, octa-, and deca-BDE, are globally restricted. Still, products containing PBDEs are expected to impact waste management and the environment for many years. In January 2016, an open fire in the Santa Marta landfill close to Santiago de Chile affected the city and surroundings. The fire caused several acute health effects and an increase in emergency hospitalizations. We measured PBDE levels in the areas affected by the fire in the air (gaseous and particulate) and soil, and PBDE emissions were estimated using a dispersion model. The results showed an increase in PBDE concentrations by a factor of 2–4 one day after the start of the fire. However, PBDE concentrations measured after the fire in PM10 and the gas phase were considered low compared to other regions. Interestingly, PBDEs’ patterns differed across the sites; however, BDE209 was the dominant congener for all environmental matrices. A preliminary risk assessment was conducted using the daily exposure dose (DED) by air inhalation estimation. The results showed low DED values for adults and children and suggested no direct health risk due to PBDE exposure. This study brings new data useful for future solid waste management initiatives in the country
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    Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere of an agricultural area of central Chile and inhalation cancer risk assessments
    (2023) Pozo, Karla; Cortés Arancibia, Sandra; Gómez, Victoria; Guida, Yago; Torres, Mariett; Carvalho, Gabriel Oliveira de; P?ibylová, Petra; Klánová, Jana; Jorquera, Héctor; CEDEUS (Chile)
    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent toxic substances prone to long-range atmospheric transport. Even in low concentrations, environmental exposure to PAHs can impact human health. In this study we aimed to i) investigate the occurrence of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (?15PAHs), from August 2016 to January 2018, in the atmosphere of Molina, using polyurethane foam disks (PAS-PUF) in central Chile; and ii) perform deterministic and probabilistic (using Monte Carlo simulations) inhalation cancer risk assessments. Gas chromatography and tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC- MS/MS) measured target PAHs. Results showed ?15PAHs ranging from 2 ng m-3 to 108 ng m-3, with four-ring PAHs as the prevalent compounds, including phenanthrene (44%) and fluoranthene (24%). Winter season showed the highest PAH levels (increasing factor up to ?8 times). PAHs diagnostic ratios showed the prevalence of pyrogenic combustion (winter) and petrogenic combustion (summer). Lifetime cancer risk assessments, using BaP-eq values, indicated an increased cancer risk for the exposed population considering different risk assessment approaches. Younger individuals were the most affected by an increased cancer risk at all sampling sites. The Monte Carlo probabilistic assessment indicated that infants and toddlers could be exposed to PAH air concentrations exceeding the cancer risk threshold in over 94% of the simulations. The coldest months in the studied region are critical for human exposure and health risk due to intense wood combustion. Indoor air can be even more relevant due to the chronic inhalation of the smoke and associated chemicals.
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    Local and regional sources of organochlorine pesticides in a rural zone in central Chile
    (2022) Llanos Castillo, Yasna Jovita; Cortés Arancibia, Sandra; Martínez, Andrés; Pozo, Karla; Přibylová, Petra; Klánová, Jana; Jorquera, Héctor; Cortés Arancibia, Sandra; Hurtado-Epstein, Andrea; Buss, Daniel F.; Hartinger, Stella M.; CEDEUS (Chile)
    There is a lack of knowledge about exposure to airborne organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs), especially for people living near agricultural zones in developing countries. This study is the first one to measure spatiotemporal variation of airborne OCPs within a major agriculture area in Central Chile. Polyurethane foam passive air samplers (PUF-PAS) were deployed in five sites in the town of Molina (35°7′S, 71°17′W) and another one in the nearby town of Lontué (35°3′S, 71°17′W). Samplers were deployed from August 2016 to January 2018, in 8 periods lasting 2–3 months each. The measured concentrations in air (pg m−3) as geometric mean were α-HCH: 0.59, γ-HCH: 3.8, o,p'-DDT: 1.3, p,p'-DDT: 2.0, o,p'-DDE: 0.52, p,p'-DDE: 5.5, o,p'-DDD: 0.26, p,p'-DDD: 0.64, PeCB: 29.1 and HCB: 14.5. The highest concentrations were measured in the warmer months and negative correlations (p < 0.05) between the log of the concentrations and the inverse of ambient temperature were found, suggesting soil volatilization as the main release process. The exceptions were o,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDE and HCB. In the case of HCB, waste burning was a likely source. Most OCP concentrations showed significant spatial heterogeneity (p < 0.05), suggesting local source contributions are dominant; the exceptions are α-HCH and PeCB (p > 0.05) whose concentrations depend on regional sources. Backward wind trajectories obtained using NOAA's HYSPLIT identified air masses coming from the south and southwest when ambient concentrations are highest; these regional sources contribute to all ambient OCP concentrations.
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    Semivolatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) in the atmosphere of Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia along north-south transect using polyurethane foam disk as passive air samplers
    (2016) Álvarez, Ángela L.; Pozo, Karla; Paéz, Martha I.; Estellano, Víctor H.; Llanos Castillo, Yasna Jovita; Focardi, Silvano