Diurnal variation and health risk assessment of anthropogenic VOCs concentrations in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: a comparative study of traffic and domestic fire sites

Diurnal variation and health risk assessment of anthropogenic VOCs concentrations in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: a comparative study of traffic and domestic fire sites | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Diurnal variation and health risk assessment of anthropogenic VOCs concentrations in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: a comparative study of traffic and domestic fire sites Julien Bahino, Pamela Dominutti, Sékou Keita, Madina Doumbia, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6596886/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study, part of the DACCIWA-FP7-WP2 project, aims to characterise urban air pollution in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and health risk associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Two contrasting urban sites were examined. A traffic site in Adjamé and a domestic fire site in Yopougon. Air samples were collected using both manual and electric pumps and analysed by gas chromatography, which identified sixteen VOCs, including aromatics, monoterpenes, alkanes and alkenes (C 5 -C 10 ). The daily average concentrations of total VOCs were similar between the two sites with 85.45µg m − 3 and 84.6µg m − 3 at the traffic and domestic fire sites, respectively. However, significant diurnal differences were observed. The traffic site had two peaks during the morning and evening rush hours, while the domestic fire site had a single peak in the morning, associated with cooking and smoking food. BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes), were predominant, accounting for 86% of the total VOCs observed at the domestic fire site and 79.6% at the traffic site. BTEX concentrations in Abidjan are among the highest recorded in urban areas across Africa and worldwide, although still lower than in cities such as Accra, Lagos and Athens. In particular, benzene levels in Yopougon site (9.8µg m − 3 ) exceed the European safety limit of 5µg m − 3 and are almost double those in Adjamé (4.51µg m − 3 ). The Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) for benzene is 6.72×10 − 2 at the domestic fire site and 3.1×10 − 2 at the traffic site, well above the recommended safety threshold of 1.0×10 − 6 . These levels indicate a serious health risk for sensitive populations exposed to chronic benzene inhalation. While non-carcinogenic risks remain relatively low, the cancer risks, particularly linked to benzene and ethylbenzene, exceed acceptable limits. These findings underscore the urgent need for regulatory action and targeted air quality management strategies in Abidjan to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants. VOC Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire West Africa BTEX health risk assessment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterialbahinoetal.2025bJune6482words.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 13 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 04 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 02 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 31 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6596886","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":466308755,"identity":"60dce075-84e9-4aad-bfe1-d61781c0be38","order_by":0,"name":"Julien Bahino","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6klEQVRIie3PMQrCMBSA4Rce6GLdxaFXMAiKoHiW0lXvECmkS3Wuk1foJLq1ZBU8QBwUwbndVCoYOyiCpI6C+SGBhHw8AmAy/WCEIYsBYmihOqVqVaqlhLwICR8Ev5gDBVE71h4XZQRDZxJnq53drVrJsX9d2nUEkmYjzYzQYcl8c6Jrr+62xzNJOQI25ks9ERYXJBK1TnMcSKJIBa0ycuNiWJBeIIffEcKFUxA4S6ecBAeWTPnJVaRNp0y6HImn/Qv1XZFe+G4QbTd0f87lYOF7SZrpCHubyYudfXr5zH4/5trHJpPJ9KfdAXS1WUGZTg/0AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Julien","middleName":"","lastName":"Bahino","suffix":""},{"id":466308756,"identity":"61f37bdc-e425-4a42-8384-a8e1d6779dd9","order_by":1,"name":"Pamela Dominutti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Clermont Auvergne","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pamela","middleName":"","lastName":"Dominutti","suffix":""},{"id":466308757,"identity":"c8980bc1-8703-4ffe-a760-4c747f5c353c","order_by":2,"name":"Sékou Keita","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Pelefero Gon Coulibaly","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sékou","middleName":"","lastName":"Keita","suffix":""},{"id":466308758,"identity":"410c3598-287d-431d-b0fc-53b0d732e868","order_by":3,"name":"Madina Doumbia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Pelefero Gon Coulibaly","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Madina","middleName":"","lastName":"Doumbia","suffix":""},{"id":466308760,"identity":"75fb3df6-c017-4511-af75-d07c1b6c27a5","order_by":4,"name":"Adon Marcellin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adon","middleName":"","lastName":"Marcellin","suffix":""},{"id":466308762,"identity":"99311f79-5268-42b6-8812-4b7d052782d1","order_by":5,"name":"Aurélie Colomb","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Clermont Auvergne","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aurélie","middleName":"","lastName":"Colomb","suffix":""},{"id":466308763,"identity":"145d4106-e020-4718-81ed-d99926e70a2b","order_by":6,"name":"Cathy Liousse","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Université Toulouse III - 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Two contrasting urban sites were examined. A traffic site in Adjam\u0026eacute; and a domestic fire site in Yopougon. Air samples were collected using both manual and electric pumps and analysed by gas chromatography, which identified sixteen VOCs, including aromatics, monoterpenes, alkanes and alkenes (C\u003csub\u003e5\u003c/sub\u003e-C\u003csub\u003e10\u003c/sub\u003e). The daily average concentrations of total VOCs were similar between the two sites with 85.45\u0026micro;g m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e and 84.6\u0026micro;g m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e at the traffic and domestic fire sites, respectively. However, significant diurnal differences were observed. The traffic site had two peaks during the morning and evening rush hours, while the domestic fire site had a single peak in the morning, associated with cooking and smoking food. BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes), were predominant, accounting for 86% of the total VOCs observed at the domestic fire site and 79.6% at the traffic site. BTEX concentrations in Abidjan are among the highest recorded in urban areas across Africa and worldwide, although still lower than in cities such as Accra, Lagos and Athens. In particular, benzene levels in Yopougon site (9.8\u0026micro;g m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) exceed the European safety limit of 5\u0026micro;g m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e and are almost double those in Adjam\u0026eacute; (4.51\u0026micro;g m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e). The Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) for benzene is 6.72\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e at the domestic fire site and 3.1\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e at the traffic site, well above the recommended safety threshold of 1.0\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e. These levels indicate a serious health risk for sensitive populations exposed to chronic benzene inhalation. While non-carcinogenic risks remain relatively low, the cancer risks, particularly linked to benzene and ethylbenzene, exceed acceptable limits. These findings underscore the urgent need for regulatory action and targeted air quality management strategies in Abidjan to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Diurnal variation and health risk assessment of anthropogenic VOCs concentrations in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: a comparative study of traffic and domestic fire sites","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-06 10:22:34","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6596886/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-13T19:20:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"142678923923609026788720962153855002448","date":"2025-06-07T06:09:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"245557988032196623931988586340672322983","date":"2025-06-06T08:43:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-06-04T08:36:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-06-02T20:14:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-06-02T06:26:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Aerosol and Air Quality Research","date":"2025-06-01T00:11:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"","identity":"aerosol-and-air-quality-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Aerosol and Air Quality Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"VoR Journals","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"066a86bf-4260-497d-af0f-9c440009f1c1","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 6th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-07-27T17:08:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-06 10:22:34","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6596886","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6596886","identity":"rs-6596886","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}