2024 Volume 27 Issue 1 Pages 13-20
Air pollution now causes several million deaths each year. Among air pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives, such as nitro-, hydroxy- and quinoid PAHs attract much attention. These pollutants are emitted through burning processes of fossil fuels and vegetation, and exist in gas and particle phases in the air. Despite their strong adverse health effects, including lung cancer, asthma and endocrine disruption, their outdoor and indoor air pollution levels have not been reduced quickly worldwide. Recently, biomass has become popular as a renewable energy source that does not increase the atmospheric concentration of global carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas implicated in global warming. On the other hand, there are still many areas in developing countries where slash-and-burn farming is practiced, and forest fires have been increasing rapidly worldwide. Therefore, sufficient attention is needed to the health effects of PAHs and related compounds generated from these sources. The aim of this report is to describe the emission and distribution of PAHs and their derivatives in outdoor and indoor air and their health effects, focusing on vegetation fires.
