Potential health risk estimation through deterministic and stochastic approach for the air pollutants found inside bottling beverage industries of Himachal Pradesh in India

Abstract

The rapid advancement of global industrialization has significantly increased air pollution, particularly particulate matter (PM), black carbon (BC), and noise, impacting indoor air quality in urban areas and posing notable health risks. This study monitored total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), noise, PM (PM10, PM2.5, PM1), and BC inside bottling and beverage industries during the monsoon season in Himachal Pradesh, India. The highest recorded values of parameters were 142 ppm (TVOC), 359 µg/m3 (PM10), 102 µg/m3 (PM2.5), 65 µg/m3 (PM1), 26 µg/m3 (BC), and 87 dB (noise). The health risk assessment revealed noncarcinogenic hazard ratios (HRs) ranging from 0.52 to 0.80, with the highest risk observed for males aged 50–60 and females aged 40–50. Carcinogenic risk attributed to BC was estimated between 5.8E−04 and 6.8E-04. The highest uncertainty (2.02%) was observed in the carcinogenic risk for BC among females aged 21–30. In comparison, the lowest uncertainty (0.36%) of risk was found in noncarcinogenic HR for PM2.5 among males of the same age group. While minimal variation for HR estimation (~ 0.87%) was found between deterministic and probabilistic approaches. Despite limitations inherent to its cross-sectional design, the study underscores significant occupational health risks due to indoor air pollution in industrial settings.