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Air pollution in transportation cabins has recently become a public concern. However, few studies assessed the exposure levels of suspected air pollutants including Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). This paper studied the exposure levels of in-carriage VOCs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone and acrolein) in Shanghai, China and estimated the health risk in different conditions. The results indicated that VOCs concentrations in metro carriages varied from different train models, due to the difference in carriage size and ventilation system. The concentrations of aromatic VOCs in old metro carriage were 1–2 times higher than the new ones, as better paintings were used in new trains. Poor air circulation and ventilation in the underground track was likely to be the cause of higher VOCs levels (~ 10%) than the above-ground track. Lower aromatic compounds levels and higher carbonyls levels were observed in metro carriages at suburban areas than those at urban areas, likely due to less aromatic emission sources and more carbonyls emission sources in suburban areas. Acetone and acrolein were found to increase from 7.71 to 26.28 μg/m 3 with number of commuters increasing from 40 to 200 in the carriages. According to the acceptable level proposed by the World Health Organization (1 × 10 − 6 –1 × 10 − 5 ), the life carcinogenic risk of commuters by subway (8.5 × 10 − 6 -4.8 × 10 − 5 ) was little above the acceptable level in Shanghai. Further application of our findings is possible to act as a reference in facilitating regulations for metro systems in other cities around world, so that in-carriage air quality might be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]