Concentrations and chemical forms of potentially toxic metals in road-deposited sediments from different zones of Hangzhou, China

Abstract

The 25 road-deposited sediments were collected from five different land-use zones (industrial, residential, commercial, park, and countryside) in Hangzhou, China. The concentrations of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in these samples were determined using ICP-AES after digestion with the mixture of HNO 3-HF-HCl (aqua regia), and chemically fractionated according to the modified BCR (the European Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure. The high metal concentration levels were detected in the sample from industrial zone and commercial zone having heavy traffic. While the low metal levels were noted in the street dust sample from residential zone, park, and countryside zone. The mobility sequence based on the sum of the BCR sequential extraction stages was: Zn (80.28%), Pb (78.68%), Cd (77.66%) > Cu (73.34%) > Mn (67.92%) > Co (41.66%) > Ni (30.36%) > Cr (21.56%), Fe (20.86%). Correlation analysis and principal component analysis were applied to the data matrix to evaluate the analytical results and to identify the possible pollution sources of metals. Factor analysis showed that these areas were mainly contaminated by three sources, namely lithology, traffic, and industry.