A review of PAH exposure from the combustion of biomass fuel and their less surveyed effect on the blood parameters

Many epidemiological studies from all over the world have reported that population from rural and urban environment bear differences in health issues due to the difference in their pollution pattern. In developing countries, various cohorts of sub- population in urban and rural areas, from both occupational and residential settings, are exposed to unseen hazards, which have never been studied in detail. The adverse effects of point and non-point sources of air pollution on hematological parameters are not studied with special focus. However, limited numbers of studies provide significant evidence of adverse effects of major persistent organic pollutants on blood parameters, both in human and experimental lab studies. The toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), towards Hb and contribution of PAHs to anemia seems largely due to the cytotoxicity of the metabolites of PAHs towards Hb (e.g., oxidative stress) and their toxicity towards rapidly-dividing cells (e.g., bone marrow cells). Biomass smoke contains high concentration of carcinogenic PAHs, which are related with a number of morbidities in human. The sources from which smoke emerge, are diverse and ubiquitous in distribution. This review aims to encompass this issue, to focus blood related effects of PAHs in human and growing need of studies on this line. Moreover, it also discusses the source, attributes and distribution of PAHs emerging from diverse sources and a mechanistic insight into their effect on hematological parameters, with specific focus on anemia in developing countries.