Aryl hydrocarbon receptor mediated activities in road dust from a metropolitan area, Hanoi-Vietnam: contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and human risk assessment.

Dioxin-Responsive Chemical-Activated LUciferase gene eXpression assay (DR-CALUX) was applied to assess the total toxic activity of the mixture of PAHs and related compounds as well as dioxin-related compounds in road dust from urban areas of Hanoi, Vietnam. Road dust from Hanoi contained significantly higher DR-CALUX activities (3 to 39, mean 20 ng CALUX-TEQ/g dw) than those from a rural site (2 to 13, mean 5 ng CALUX-TEQ/g dw). The total concentrations of 24 major PAHs (Σ24PAHs) in urban road dust (0.1 to 5.5, mean 2.5 μg/g dw) were also 6 times higher than those in rural road dust (0.08 to 1.5, mean 0.4 μg/g dw). Diagnostic ratios of PAHs indicated vehicular engine combustion as the major PAH emission source in both sites. PAHs accounted for 0.8 to 60% (mean 10%) and 2 to 76% (mean 20%) of the measured CALUX-TEQs in road dust for Hanoi the rural site, respectively. Benzo[b]-/benzo[k]fluoranthenes were the major TEQ contributors among PAHs, whereas DRCs contributed <0.1% to CALUX-TEQs for both rural and urban sites. These results suggest TEQ contribution of other aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists in road dust. Significant PAH concentrations in urban dust indicated high mutagenic and carcinogenic potencies. Estimated results of incremental life time cancer risk (ILCR) indicated that Vietnamese populations, especially those in urban areas such as Hanoi, are potentially exposed to high cancer risk via both dust ingestion and dermal contact. This is the first study on the exposure risk of AhR agonists, including PAHs and DRCs, in urban road dust from a developing country using a combined bio-chemical analytical approach.