M Shamlou - School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Erfan Hoseinifar - School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Dioxin is a toxic and carcinogen organic pollutant that has caused environmental distress for human health in the last decades globally. Dioxin is the by-product of producing herbicides, paper making, waste incineration, copper smelting, and forest fires. This hazardous pollutant can enter the human body through air, food, and water. In this study, the risk assessment of dioxin has been conducted concerning three criteria, including pollutant concentration, the duration of exposure per day, and the duration of exposure per year. The studied samples in this research have been gathered from ten different points, including urban, agricultural, and border areas using national dioxin program data. In order to determine the effects of exposure to dioxin, firstly, the mean, the minimum, and the maximum concentrations of the focused pollutant were analyzed and, then the risk assessment was performed using both daily and chronic exposure. The sampling results showed that the highest concentration of dioxin pollutant is equivalent to ۱.۳ femtograms per cubic meter in the suburban town of Netley, and the lowest concentration is about ۰.۱ femtograms per cubic meter in the Boorolite city. In this analytical research work, carcinogen and non-carcinogen risk assessments were studied. In the case of chronic exposure, the cancer risk for dioxin was estimated at values of ۲.۴۷E-۰۸ and ۱.۹۰E-۰۹, for Netley and Boorolite respectively. The hazard index (HI) was lower than tolerable daily intake (TDI) of ۱ pg WHO TEQ kg-۱ b.w.d-۱ for dioxins

Dioxins, Ambient air, Risk assessment, Cancer risk, Australia