Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/4321

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  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 5
    Citation - Scopus: 7
    Bleach-Containing Automatic Toilet-Bowl Cleaners as Sources of Vocs, Associated Indoor Air Concentrations and Carcinogenic Risk
    (Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research (TUNCAP), 2020) Ayrı, İlknur; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Gaygısız, Handan; Sofuoğlu, Aysun; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    Household cleaning products are sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Bleach containing products are a special case because reactions occur between chloride and their organic content such as surfactants, perfumes, etc., generating VOCs. This study aimed to determine concentration of 13 VOCs in bleach-containing automatic toilet cleaners, to estimate their indoor air concentrations and associated exposure and health risk levels. Experiments with products purchased from supermarkets were conducted in 20-mL headspace vials by placing 1 g of sample with and without water. Solid-phase micro extraction with a DVB/CAR/PDMS fiber assembly was used for adsorption of VOCs from the headspace, and analyzed using a GC-MS. The median carbon tetrachloride and chloroform concentrations of the studied products ranged from 5.03 × 10?3 to 2.37 × 10?2 ?g/g and 2.53 × 10?2 to 2.37 ?g/g, respectively. The modeled 95th percentile indoor air concentrations in a 1.6 m3 bathroom with no ventilation were estimated to be 1 and 20 ?g/m3 for carbon tetrachloride and chloroform, respectively. The 95th percentile carcinogenic risk associated even with the use of the highest content product, 3.72 × 10?7 and 8.62 × 10?7 for carbon tetrachloride and chloroform respectively, were below the acceptable risk. In conclusion, automatic toilet-bowl cleaners were found to be sources of VOCs, but their emission potentials are not high to cause considerable indoor air concentrations over their suggested product lifetime. In turn, carcinogenic risks associated with inhalation exposure are below the de Minimis risk level of 10?6. © 2020
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 45
    Citation - Scopus: 45
    The First Countrywide Monitoring of Selected Pops: Polychlorinated Biphenyls (pcbs), Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (pbdes) and Selected Organochlorine Pesticides (ocps) in the Atmosphere of Turkey
    (Elsevier Ltd., 2018) Kurt Karakuş, Perihan Binnur; Ugranlı Çiçek, Tuğba; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Çelik, Halil; Güngörmüş, Elif; Gedik, Kadir; Sofuoğlu, Aysun; Ökten, Hatice Eser; Birgül, Aşkın; Alegria, Henry; Jones, Kevin C.
    Atmospheric levels of 43 PCBs, 22 OCPs, and 14 PBDEs were determined in 16 cities at urban and rural sites by passive sampling to generate the first large-scale nationwide dataset of POP residues in Turkey's atmosphere. Sampling campaign was performed from May 2014 to April 2015 with three-month sampling periods at locations on east-west and north-south transects through the country to investigate seasonal and spatial variations, including long range atmospheric transport (LRAT). Factor analysis was conducted to infer on the potential sources. Overall average Σ43PCBs concentration was 108 ± 132 pg/m3. PCB-118 (26.3 ± 44.6 pg/m3) was the top congener, and penta-CBs had the highest contribution with 54.3%. ΣDDTs had the highest annual mean concentration with 134 ± 296 pg/m3 among the OCP groups among which the highest concentration compound was p'p-DDE (97.6 ± 236 pg/m3). Overall average concentration of Σ14PBDEs was 191 ± 329 pg/m3 with the highest contribution from BDE-190 (42%). Comparison of OCPs and PCBs concentrations detected at temperatures which were above and below annual average temperature indicated higher concentrations in the warmer periods, hence significance of secondary emissions for several OCPs and Σ43PCBs, as well as inference as LRAT from secondary emissions. The first nationwide POPs database constructed in this study, point to current use, local secondary emissions, and LRAT for different individual compounds, and indicate the need for regular monitoring. The first country-wide passive sampling of selected POPs showed no unequivocal trends reflecting transitional location of Turkey.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 36
    Citation - Scopus: 42
    Speciated Arsenic Concentrations, Exposure, and Associated Health Risks for Rice and Bulgur
    (Elsevier Ltd., 2014) Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Güzelkaya, Hilal; Akgül, Özlem; Kavcar, Pınar; Kurucaovalı, Filiz; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    Arsenic species were determined in rice and bulgur samples that were collected from 50 participants who also supplied exposure related information through a questionnaire survey. Speciation analysis was conducted using an HPLC-ICP-MS system. Ingestion exposure to arsenic and associated health risks were assessed by combining the concentration and questionnaire data both for individual participants and the subject population. Inorganic arsenic dominated both in rice and bulgur but concentrations were about an order of magnitude higher in rice (160. ±. 38. ng/g) than in bulgur. Because participants also consumed more rice than bulgur, exposures were significantly higher for rice resulting in carcinogenic risks above acceptable level for 53% and 93% of the participants when the in-effect and the proposed potencies were used, respectively, compared to 0% and 5% for bulgur. An inorganic arsenic standard for rice would be useful to lower the risks while public awareness about the relation between excessive rice consumption and health risks is built, and bulgur consumption is promoted.