Abstract
A pilot study was conducted to investigate the concentrations of seven heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe, Ni and Pb) in private car dusts collected from Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Gambang campus. Ten private cars were selected among UMP staffs and students, and the dust samples were obtained by using a conventional vacuum cleaner with a clean nylon sampling sock pre-inserted into the suction nozzle. All samples were acid-digested with aqua regia solution and analysed for metal concentration using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). The highest mean concentrations were recorded for Fe (650± 480 mg/kg), followed by Zn (160 ± 110 mg/kg), Cu (76.2 ± 18.5 mg/kg), Pb (39.2 ± 99.1 mg/kg), Ni (6.39 ± 8.30 mg/kg), Cr (3.42 ± 5.90 mg/kg) and Cd (0.55 ± 1.40 mg/kg). Hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values lower than 1 indicated no potential non-carcinogenic risks to the adult drivers.
Highlights
IntroductionDust in indoor environment has been recognized as a major source and sink of various environmental contaminants, including heavy metals [1,2,3,4]
Dust is a heterogenous mixture of organic, inorganic and biological components
The levels of heavy metal measured in the present study were less than one-half of that reported for settled bus dust [17], which facilitates a large number of passenger flow
Summary
Dust in indoor environment has been recognized as a major source and sink of various environmental contaminants, including heavy metals [1,2,3,4]. Heavy metals are of concern due to their non-biodegradable nature, toxicities and ability to bioaccumulate. Long term exposure to heavy metals may cause problems to human health, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases [5]. Over the past few decades, heavy metal contamination in indoor dust has been extensively studied, in schools [6,7,8], and residential homes [1, 9, 10]. Heavy metal concentration in indoor dust can be affected by geographical location, anthropogenic activities and buildings’ characteristics. Most studies identified oral ingestion as the main exposure pathway for humans, followed by dermal uptake and inhalation [6, 9, 11, 12]
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