{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T16:03:29Z","timestamp":1778342609926,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,24]],"date-time":"2023-01-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1674518400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A wide range of volatile organic solvents, including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, and ketones, are used in the production of paints, and they comprise more than 30% of the ingredients of paints. The present study was designed to evaluate the occupational exposure to 15 volatile organic compounds (VOCs, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, n-hexane, n-heptane, n-nonane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, n-butyl acetate, n-octane, n-decane, dichlorofluoromethane, and acetone) in Iranian paint production factories and subsequently, the associated health risks. The samples were collected from the respiratory zone of workers using the NIOSH 1501 method, and their qualitative and quantitative characterization was performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector, respectively. The individual concentrations of VOCs ranged from 23.76 \u00b1 0.57 \u00b5g m\u22123 (acetone) to 92489.91 \u00b1 0.65 \u00b5g m\u22123 (m,p-xylene). The predominant compounds were m,p-xylene (up to 92489.91 \u00b1 0.65 \u00b5g m\u22123), ethylbenzene (up to 91188.95 \u00b1 0.34 \u00b5g m\u22123), and toluene (up to 46088.84 \u00b1 0.14 \u00b5g m\u22123). The non-cancer risks of benzene, n-nonane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, xylene, and ethylbenzene surpassed the reference value in most of the sectors. In addition, total lifetime risks of cancer were in the range of 1.8 \u00d7 10\u22125\u20133.85 \u00d7 10\u22123, suggesting that there was a risk of carcinogenesis in all studied sections, mainly due to ethylbenzene and benzene. Considering their high exposure concentrations and their associated non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, biological monitoring of workers and the use of technical and modern engineering control measures are recommended.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics11020111","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,25]],"date-time":"2023-01-25T03:23:49Z","timestamp":1674617029000},"page":"111","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":45,"title":["Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds in Paint Production Plants: Levels and Potential Human Health Risks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Safiye","family":"Ghobakhloo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan 8715988141, Iran"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2265-5054","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amir Hossein","family":"Khoshakhlagh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan 8715988141, Iran"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6433-5801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"Morais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE-LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico do Porto, Rua Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ashraf","family":"Mazaheri Tehrani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan 8715988141, Iran"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1016\/j.memsci.2003.08.006","article-title":"Retention of a wide variety of organic pollutants by different nanofiltration\/reverse osmosis membranes: Controlling parameters of process","volume":"225","author":"Agenson","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. 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