Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:2549–2564 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1641-y ORIGINAL PAPER Health risk assessment associated with volatile organic compounds in a parking garage A. Ramadan 1  · M. F. Yassin 1  · B. Z. Alshammari 2 Received: 10 June 2017 / Revised: 16 September 2017 / Accepted: 3 January 2018 / Published online: 22 January 2018 © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2018 Abstract Most volatile organic compounds are considered potentially harmful air pollutants to the environment and most importantly human health. The present work investigated the concentrations of 72 volatile organic compounds commonly emitted from the vehicular exhausts at a hospital parking garage. The objective was set to assess the associated health risk due to inhala- tion of these compounds during weekdays versus weekends. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks were assessed using the US Environmental Protection Agency conventional approach. A total of 112 air samples were collected inside the hospital parking garage using six-liter evacuated Silonite™-coated polished stainless steel canisters. Triplicate sampling was used for quality assurance/quality control purposes. The air samples were analyzed using the gas chromatography with fame ionization detection system, which followed the US Environmental Protection Agency TO-15 Method. The overall 24-h concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes were 6.78, 31.14, 11.35, and 27.85 μg/m 3 , respectively. These values were comparable to values reported in Europe, North America, and Asia. The weekend concentrations were lower than the weekday ones. Halogenated compounds had the highest contribution of volatile organic compounds groups to total concentrations in both weekday and weekend. The weekday and weekend concentrations temporal cycles were characterized, and they were correlated with the trafc activity inside the parking garage. Two of the measured compounds (i.e., tetrachloromethane and 1,2-dibromoethane) were discovered to pose defnite cancer risk. To our knowledge, this is the frst study in the region which looks at volatile organic compound levels in a parking garage and the associated health risks. Keywords Air sample · Carcinogens · Gas chromatography · Vehicles emissions Introduction Parking garages are one of the most notorious spaces for high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban environments, thanks to vehicular exhaust emissions. VOCs emitted from vehicles have direct detrimental effect on humans’ health due to some of them being classifed as car- cinogenic. They also have indirect efect on health and the environment as well due to them acting as precursors for the formation of ground-level ozone (O 3 ) and other photo- chemical oxidants in ambient air, which are associated with urban smog. Health risk due to efect of VOCs can be clas- sifed as either carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic (Ramírez et al. 2012). The main non-carcinogenic chronic efects are irritative, sensory efects, damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, asthma, and other respiratory efects. The main organs afected by these carcinogens are lung, liver, and kidney. Numerous factors afect the type and concentration of VOCs emitted from vehicles including engine type (e.g., two strokes vs. four strokes), fuel type (e.g., diesel vs. gasoline vs. ethanol), and engine operating conditions (e.g., cruising, idling, and transient modes). Indeed, several previous stud- ies across the world have surveyed, identifed, and quanti- fed individual and total VOCs and have demonstrated the increase in VOCs concentrations with increased trafc fow density, e.g., Staehelin et al. (1995, 1997, 1998), Heeb et al. Editorial responsibility: Mohamed Fathy Yassin * A. Ramadan aramadan@kisr.edu.kw 1 Environmental Pollution and Climate Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientifc Research, P.O. Box 24885, 13109 Safat, Kuwait 2 College for Graduate Studies, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait