Air pollution by BTEX and the related health risks due to the tobacco smoke, a systematic review

Abstract

BTEX is a group of hazardous chemical compounds that include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. The indoor concentration of BTEX is mostly influenced by tobacco smoking, the region within the house, and seasonal variations. This study included three databases: "Google Scholar", "Science Direct", and "Springer". Out of the 1351 articles obtained from the keyword search, only 13 were eventually selected for this study. The most abundant compound found in houses among BTEX was toluene, with a concentration of 13.80±16.50 µg/m3. The results indicated that the concentration of benzene in houses where smoking occurred was greater than in houses where no smoking occurred (7.17±9.42 vs. 2.65±3.77 µg/m3, unpaired Wilcoxon test: p>0.05). The concentration of BTEX in houses was substantially lower than that in cafes (21.10±31.10 vs. 15,100±9740 µg/m3, unpaired Wilcoxon test: p 0.05). The findings indicated that the cancer risk (CR) associated with houses (3.11×10-6) and cafes (3.54×10-3) exceeded the permissible threshold. Moreover, the waterpipe cafes that utilized fruit-flavored tobacco had the greatest CR (4.98×10-3). Furthermore, the presence of smoking, regional factors, and seasonal variations did not result in an increase in the hazard quotient (HQ) in houses beyond the acceptable thresholds.

Keywords

• BTEX (Benzene
• toluene
• ethylbenzene
• xylene); Indoor air quality; Smoking; Cigarette; Health risk