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Table 3 Mean, 5th and 95th percentile exposure concentrations for environmental carcinogens by route of exposure

From: An approach to estimating the environmental burden of cancer from known and probable carcinogens: application to Ontario, Canada

Environmental carcinogen Route of exposure Mean (5th, 95th PCT) Units Reference
1,2-Dichloropropane Outdoor air 0.017 (0.0069, 0.032) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.011 (0.0046, 0.022) μg/m3 Zhu et al. [15]
Drinking water 0.050 (NA) μg/L DWSP [16]
1,3-Butadiene Outdoor air 0.047 (0.0021, 0.17) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.15 (0.030, 0.40) μg/m3 Health Canada [17]
Acrylamide Food 0.28 (0.16, 0.60) μg/kg · day AMP [18]
Alpha-chlorinated toluenes Outdoor air 0.012 (0.0027, 0.031) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.016 (0.014, 0.018) μg/m3 Health Canada [17]
Arsenic Outdoor air 0.69 (0.10, 2.0) ng/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.18 (0.025, 0.55) ng/m3 Bari et al. [19]
Drinking water 0.47 (0.15, 1.06) μg/L DWSP [16]
Food 0.57 (0.37, 0.94) μg/kg · day CTDS [20]
Dust 18 (2.1, 38) μg/g CHDS [21]
Asbestos Outdoor air 0.00021 (0.000017, 0.00050) fibers/mL Lee et al. [22]
Indoor air 0.00026 (0.000023, 0.00062) fibers/mL Lee et al. [22]
Benzene Outdoor air 0.51 (0.12, 1.3) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 1.9 (0.18, 6.1) μg/m3 Zhu et al. [15]
Drinking water 0.050 (NA) μg/L DWSP [16]
Cadmium Outdoor air 0.11 (0.022, 0.31) ng/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.032 (0.0071, 0.084) ng/m3 Bari et al. [19]
Chromium (VI) Outdoor air 0.40 (0.10, 1.0) ng/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 1.0 (0.11, 3.3) ng/m3 Bari et al. [19]
Drinking water 0.29 (0.053, 0.78) μg/L DWSP [16]
Dust 147 (19, 310) μg/g CHDS [21]
Dichloromethane Outdoor air 0.37 (0.13, 0.81) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 1.9 (0.38, 5.0) μg/m3 Health Canada [17]
Drinking water 0.20 (NA) μg/L DWSP [16]
DPM Outdoor air 0.98 (0.17, 2.8) μg/m3 CARB [23]
Formaldehyde Outdoor air 1.9 (0.33, 5.5) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 30 (12, 61) μg/m3 Héroux et al. [24]
Nickel Outdoor air 0.51 (0.082, 1.5) ng/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 1.0 (0.036, 3.9) ng/m3 Bari et al. [19]
PAHs Outdoor air 0.099 (0.0038, 0.37) ng/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.21 (0.013, 0.76) ng/m3 Li et al. [25]
Drinking water 1.0 (NA) ng/L DWSP [16]
Food 55 (30, 90) ng/day Kazerouni et al. [26]
Dust 1.8 (0.15, 6.3) μg/g Maertens et al. [27]
PCBs Outdoor air 0.0031 (0.00039, 0.0095) pg of TEQ/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.19 (0.046, 0.47) pg of TEQ/m3 Harrad et al. [28]
Food 0.081 (0.049, 0.22) pg of TEQ/kg · day CTDS [20]
Dust 0.0096 (0.0017, 0.019) ng of TEQ/g Harrad et al. [28]
PM2.5 Outdoor air 5.8 (3.8, 8.3) μg/m3 AQO [29]
TCDD (dioxins) Outdoor air 0.014 (0.0028, 0.040) pg of TEQ/m3 NAPS [14]
Food 0.80 (0.44, 2.4) pg of TEQ/kg · day CTDS [20]
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) Outdoor air 0.088 (0.017, 0.24) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.71 (0.037, 2.6) μg/m3 Zhu et al. [15]
Drinking water 0.053 (0.033, 0.080) μg/L DWSP [16]
Trichloroethylene (TCE) Outdoor air 0.038 (0.0037, 0.13) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.065 (0.0079, 0.20) μg/m3 Zhu et al. [15]
Drinking water 0.053 (0.036, 0.075) μg/L DWSP [16]
Vinyl chloride Outdoor air 0.0027 (0.00074, 0.0063) μg/m3 NAPS [14]
Indoor air 0.025 (0.020, 0.030) μg/m3 Health Canada [17]
Drinking water 0.050 (NA) μg/L DWSP [16]
  1. Abbreviations: 5th 95th PCT, 5th and 95th percentiles, AMP Acrylamide Monitoring Program, AQO Air Quality Ontario, CARB California Air Resources Board, CHDS Canadian House Dust Study, CTDS Canadian Total Diet Study, DPM diesel engine exhaust particulate matter, DWSP Drinking Water Surveillance Program, NA not available, NAPS National Air Pollution Surveillance Program, PAHs polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs polychlorinated biphenyls, PM2.5 fine particulate matter, TCDD 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, TEQ toxic equivalency factor
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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