Abstract
Road dust, which contains trace elements and certain organic matter that can be harmful to human health, plays an important role in atmospheric pollution. In this paper, concentrations of 16 elements in the road dust of Changchun, China were determined experimentally. A total of 100 samples were collected using plastic brushes and dustpans, and the elements were analyzed by an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). It was indicated that the elements could be divided into major and trace elements. The concentration of trace elements followed the trend: mercury (Hg) > manganese (Mn) > zinc (Zn) > lead (Pb) > chromium (Cr) > copper (Cu) > vanadium (V) > arsenic (As) > nickel (Ni) > cobalt (Co) > cadmium (Cd). Contamination-level-assessment calculated by the geo-accumulation index (Igeo) showed that the pollution-level ranged from non-contaminated to extreme contamination, while the calculations of enrichment factor (EF) showed that EF values exhibited a decreasing trend: Cd > Hg > As > Pb > Cu > Co > Zn > Ni > Cr > V > Mn > Mg > Fe > Sr > Ba. In our study, ingestion was the greatest exposure pathway for humans to intake trace elements by calculating the average daily dose (ADD) from three routes (ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact). According to the health risk assessment results, the non-carcinogenic risks that human beings suffered from these elements were insignificant. Additionally, the hazard quotient (HQ) values were approximately one-tenth in the case of children. Meanwhile, the total excess cancer risk (ECR) was also lower than the acceptable level (10−6–10−4) for both adults and children.
Highlights
In recent decades, the rapidly growing economy of China has resulted in a dramatic change in human activities such as industrialization and urbanization [1,2,3,4]
Metal concentrations of the road dust and the summary statistics of the study area are listed in Comparing the China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CNEMC) values, all concentrations of the major elements were relatively lower; on the other hand, the concentrations of the trace elements were higher, except for Mn and V
The mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, As, and Hg were 214.3, 3.29, 5.97, and 14,000 times that of the CNEMC values, respectively; this was significantly higher than the other elements, which may be derived from anthropogenic sources
Summary
The rapidly growing economy of China has resulted in a dramatic change in human activities such as industrialization and urbanization [1,2,3,4]. Serious environmental problems have emerged, especially air pollution, which has become one of the most significant environmental concerns of both the public and scientists for the past few decades. Researchers have analyzed atmospheric pollution sources such as coal combustion, vehicle emission, soil, construction, as well as road dust [5,6,7]. It is necessary to study the physical chemical properties of each source to obtain a more precise result of source analysis, such as element characteristics, organic component, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [8,9,10,11]. Heavy metal pollutants can enter the atmosphere and natural water systems through re-suspension and runoff, respectively [12,13,14,15]. Studies regarding the metal components of road dust have been
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