Abstract
Airborne dust, which contains high levels of toxic metals, is recognized as one of the most harmful environment component. The purpose of this study was to evaluate heavy metals pollution in dustfall from bus stations in Beijing, and to perform a risk assessment analysis for adult passengers. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The spatial distribution, pollution level and potential health risk of heavy metals were analyzed by Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping technology, geo-accumulation index and health risk assessment model, respectively. The results indicate that dust samples have elevated metal concentrations, especially for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The nine metals can be divided into two categories in terms of spatial distribution and pollution level. Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb and Zn reach contaminated level and have similar spatial patterns with hotspots distributed within the Fifth Ring Road. While the hot spot areas of Co and V are always out of the Fifth Ring Road. Health risk assessment shows that both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of selected metals were within the safe range.
Highlights
With the rapid urbanization and the accelerated industrialization in the last decades, heavy metals originating from anthropogenic activities such as vehicular traffic, heating systems, building construction or renovation, etc. have been greatly enhanced [1,2]
Most publications about dust heavy metals were focused on materials pollution characteristics, spatial distribution patterns and sources identification [7,8,9,10,11,12]
Heavy metals can accumulate in human body and do harm to human health [13], due to their toxicity and non-degradability, long residence time and long biological half-lives for elimination from the body [14]
Summary
With the rapid urbanization and the accelerated industrialization in the last decades, heavy metals originating from anthropogenic activities such as vehicular traffic, heating systems, building construction or renovation, etc. have been greatly enhanced [1,2]. Dust, which contains high levels of toxic metals, contaminates terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem when deposited in place, and contributes to atmospheric pollution as they re-suspended back into the atmosphere [3,4]. Pollution Assessment of Heavy Metals in Dustfall. The maximum Igeo values for Cr and V are less than zero, which are both ranked as an “uncontaminated” level. The Igeo values for the other seven metals such as Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Co, Ni and Mo are all greater than 0, indicating that dustfall in the study areas is polluted by these seven metals with varying degrees. According to the previous research [38], the high
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