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Volume 13
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10.3390/toxics13121008
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Household Dust Across the Haze Season in Upper Northern Thailand

by
Kawinwut Somsunun
1,2,
Teetawat Santijitpakdee
1,
Kanyapak Kohsuwan
1,
Natwasan Jeytawan
1,
Sukrit Kirtsaeng
3,
Dan Norbäck
4 and
Tippawan Prapamontol
1,*
1
Environment and Health Research Group, Research Institute for Health Sciences (RIHES), Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
2
Office of Research Administration, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
3
Northern Meteorological Center, Meteorological Department, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
4
Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Toxics 2025, 13(12), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13121008
Submission received: 29 October 2025 / Revised: 18 November 2025 / Accepted: 20 November 2025 / Published: 21 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Pollutants—2nd Edition)
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Abstract

Indoor exposure to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) presents a global health concern, yet comprehensive seasonal assessments in Thailand remain limited, particularly during air pollution episodes. We assessed 15 PTEs in household dust collected across eight provinces of upper northern Thailand (UNT) during the haze and non-haze seasons to evaluate contamination levels, identify sources, and assess health risks. Five elements (Cr, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn) showed significantly higher concentrations during the haze season (p < 0.05), accompanied by corresponding increases in contamination indices and more diverse pollution sources being identified compared to the non-haze season, with Sb showing the highest enrichment degree (EF = 117.8). Source identification revealed potential enrichment from mixed anthropogenic sources, natural soil, industrial activities, agricultural inputs, and biomass burning. Health risk assessment showed that children faced unacceptable non-carcinogenic risks (HI = 2.51), increasing to 2.79 during the haze season, exceeding safe thresholds. Both adults and children experienced unacceptable carcinogenic risks from chromium exposure, particularly through inhalation during haze episodes. Total lifetime cancer risks increased from 1.20 × 10−4 to 1.74 × 10−4 for children and from 4.02 × 10−4 to 6.06 × 10−4 for adults during the haze season. These findings underscore the critical need for integrated pollution control strategies addressing biomass burning emissions to reduce indoor dust contamination and protect public health in biomass-burning-impacted regions.
Keywords: potentially toxic elements; indoor household dust; haze season; health risk assessments; upper northern Thailand potentially toxic elements; indoor household dust; haze season; health risk assessments; upper northern Thailand
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MDPI and ACS Style

Somsunun, K.; Santijitpakdee, T.; Kohsuwan, K.; Jeytawan, N.; Kirtsaeng, S.; Norbäck, D.; Prapamontol, T. Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Household Dust Across the Haze Season in Upper Northern Thailand. Toxics 2025, 13, 1008. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13121008

AMA Style

Somsunun K, Santijitpakdee T, Kohsuwan K, Jeytawan N, Kirtsaeng S, Norbäck D, Prapamontol T. Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Household Dust Across the Haze Season in Upper Northern Thailand. Toxics. 2025; 13(12):1008. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13121008

Chicago/Turabian Style

Somsunun, Kawinwut, Teetawat Santijitpakdee, Kanyapak Kohsuwan, Natwasan Jeytawan, Sukrit Kirtsaeng, Dan Norbäck, and Tippawan Prapamontol. 2025. "Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Household Dust Across the Haze Season in Upper Northern Thailand" Toxics 13, no. 12: 1008. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13121008

APA Style

Somsunun, K., Santijitpakdee, T., Kohsuwan, K., Jeytawan, N., Kirtsaeng, S., Norbäck, D., & Prapamontol, T. (2025). Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Household Dust Across the Haze Season in Upper Northern Thailand. Toxics, 13(12), 1008. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13121008

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