Abstract
Household dust pollution with heavy metals attracted the attention of researchers and environmental managers due to the risk of the health of these metals. The study aims are to determine heavy metals concentrations (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn), their spatial distribution, and their potential sources in the household dust of Al-Fallujah City, Iraq. The dust was sampled from 50 houses. The heavy metals levels in the dust were measured using the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. The mean concentration of heavy metal was ordered as following: Zn (292.85 mg/kg) > Cr (289.45 mg/kg) > Ni (105.72 mg/kg) > Pb (75.57 mg/kg) > Cu (65.03 mg/kg) > Cd (14.77 mg/kg). The mean concentration of these metals exceeded the reference values. The areal distribution of the reported heavy metals showed specific and non-specific patterns indicating point and non-point pollution sources. The heavy metals potential sources in house dust in the study area were characterized using correlation, Principle components and cluster analyses. The potential sources for Cd, Cu and Pb were interior and exterior sources, while the Ni and Cr were derived from internal sources. This study provides the environmental protection managers and decision-makers with important information about heavy metals concentrations and their sources in indoor environments.
Highlights
Indoor environments have attracted increasing interest due to the rapid urbanization (Shi and Wang, 2021)
House dust acts as a sink and source of the heavy metals (Yadav et al, 2019; Arar et al, 2019)
Household dust is defined as the fine settled or particulate airborne materials found in the indoor household environment
Summary
Indoor environments have attracted increasing interest due to the rapid urbanization (Shi and Wang, 2021). People spend the majority of their time in indoor environments The chances of exposure to indoor environment pollutants increase by 1,000 times compared to the chances of exposure to those pollutants in outdoor environments (Hwang et al, 2008). Among the pollutants of dangerous indoor environments are heavy metals that have received great attention among people due to their high toxicity, non-degradable and harmful effects on humans. House dust acts as a sink and source of the heavy metals (Yadav et al, 2019; Arar et al, 2019). Household dust is defined as the fine settled or particulate airborne materials found in the indoor household environment.
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