Abstract:

Arsenic is a highly toxic element that poses significant risks to human health, particularly in steel factory environments where exposure pathways are often overlooked, and studies assessing these risks among workers remain limited. This study evaluates the distribution of arsenic and its associated human health risks within an industrial site, providing both theoretical and practical insights for risk mitigation. A total of 103 soil samples and 10 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese technical standards HJ 25.1-2019 and HJ 25.2-2019. Arsenic concentrations in groundwater ranged from 1.3 to 25.5 μg/L, with 99% of samples below the recommended safe limit of 10 μg/L set by WHO, while 1% exceeded this limit by 2.5 times; soil concentrations ranged from 6.89 to 26.2 mg/kg. Human health risk assessment across oral, inhalation, and dermal exposure pathways showed non-carcinogenic hazard quotient (HQ) values of 1.10×10⁻³ (oral), 1.45×10⁴ (dermal), and 2.18×10⁻⁴ (inhalation), with dermal exposure exceeding acceptable limits, while carcinogenic risk (CR) values exceeded the threshold of 1×10⁻⁴ across all layers, particularly via dermal exposure, with the highest risk in the topsoil layer; overall, dermal contact was identified as the dominant exposure pathway, indicating that mitigation efforts should prioritize reducing dermal exposure to arsenic in steel factory environments.