Weather-Specific Individual Exposure to Organic Contaminants in Fine Particulate Matter by Nontarget Screening and Risk Prioritization

Respiration exposure evaluation to numerous organic contaminants
in fine particle matter (PM2.5) is essential for health
risk characterization. There is still a lack of understanding of the
individual exposure to airborne pollutants under different weathers.
This study applied portable exposure samplers to collect PM2.5 samples under hazy, precipitation, dusty, and calm weather scenarios.
Non-targeted screening (NTS) based on gas chromatography-quadrupole
time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF MS) was conducted for comprehensive
identification of organic contaminants in the samples. Over 500 organic
compounds were annotated and semi-quantitatively analyzed. The assessment
model combining persistence–bioaccumulation–toxicity
(PBT) characteristics with exposure levels was established to identify
high-priority pollutants. The results indicate that the occurrence
and risk characteristics of organic contaminants vary significantly
under different weather scenarios with the compounds’ average
risk index for being highest during sandstorm weather. These findings
emphasize the importance of integrating weather exposure scenarios
into the complex atmospheric environment monitoring to achieve comprehensive
risk assessment and provide evidence for targeted air pollution control
strategies.