Health Risk Assessment of Residents’ Exposure to Air Pollutants around the Sinpyeong–Jangrim Industrial Complex in Busan

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the health effects of heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in the air around the Sinpyeong-Jangrim Industrial Complex, Busan, and the necessity of reduction measures. We measured the concentrations of heavy metals and VOCs in PM_2.5 in five areas with dense population around the Sinpyeong-Jangrim Industrial Complex. A health risk assessment was conducted, and the spatial risk distribution for the entire Saha-gu area was predicted using inverse distance weighting (IDW). Our results indicated that the carcinogens benzene, As, and Cr⁶⁺, and the non-carcinogen m,p-xylene, have the potential to adversely affect health. In particular, As was found to have the potential to express health effects at all measurement points. Additionally, based on the IDW results, the minimum values of benzene, arsenic, and m,p-xylene exceeded the threshold level, potentially affecting the health of residents across the entire Saha-gu area. In contrast, Cr⁶⁺ could potentially impact health only in some parts of Saha-gu as only its maximum value exceeded the threshold level. We demonstrated the importance of reducing air pollutant emissions from general industrial complexes. Our results will be useful in establishing more systematic mitigation measures to protect the health of residents near the Sinpyeong-Jangrim Industrial Complex and developing air pollutant management systems.