Distribution characteristics and health risk assessment of PAEs in urban soils of Changji City, Xinjiang, China

Recent studies have indicated that PAEs (phthalic acid esters) are significant environmental pollutants with carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic effects. Urban soils can act as both a source and sink for city contaminants. This paper takes Changji, Xinjiang in Northwest China as the study area and explores the pollution characteristics and health risks of PAEs in the urban soils of arid areas. The analysis results indicate average concentration occurrences of 13.77 mg/kg and ranges from 0.29 to 119.72 mg/kg in the study area. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were the predominant PAEs in the urban soil of Changji. The highest average PAEs concentration appeared in winter, followed by autumn and spring and the lowest in summer; the seasonal variation was significant. The climate characteristics of arid regions and seasonal variations of source emissions were the primary influencing factors. The theoretical values of the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk of PAEs were relatively small, all within the acceptable range. Values of non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk to children were much higher than the risks to adults. Children were the vulnerable groups most at risk for harmful pollutants, and the safety of their living environment should be the focus of more attention.