Distribution and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal in Surface Dust in Allahabad Municipality

Abstract

The environment is getting contaminated due to un-engineered disposal of waste produced by rapid industrialization and urbanization to fulfill the needs of increasing population. Environmental pollutants can harm people’s health through a series of complex transport by various exposure pathways. Heavy metals are continuously being dump into the environment which create serious problems to human health. In this study, the soil and dust samples were collected to know their distribution and concentration of various heavy metals like As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, etc., and their health risk assessment had been determined. The health risk was assessed using hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI). The samples were collected from ten different locations including industrial, residential, highways and mixed use in Allahabad, UP (India). The equipment used for heavy metals detection was hand held portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) analyzer. The dry and finely powdered soil samples were placed in a plastic container and packed by polypropylene thin film from both sides. Three measurements were performed, and detail descriptions were recorded for each soil samples. The assessment of health risk was analyzed for three exposure pathways: ingestion, dermal contact and inhalation. The main exposure pathway of heavy metals to both children and adults is ingestion. The result shows that the heavy metal concentration is found below hazardous level for adults and at higher level for child below six years. The study will be beneficial for the municipality in terms of non-point source pollution control and management to give the healthy environment to local people.