Abstract
Road dust is an important source of resuspended particulate matter (PM) but information is lacking on the chemical composition of the ultrafine particle fraction (UFP; <0.1 µm). This study investigated metal concentrations in UFP isolated from the “dust box” of sweepings collected by the City of Toronto, Canada, using regenerative-air-street sweepers. Dust box samples from expressway, arterial and local roads were aerosolized in the laboratory and were separated into thirteen particle size fractions ranging from 10 nm to 10 µm (PM10). The UFP fraction accounted for about 2% of the total mass of resuspended PM10 (range 0.23–8.36%). Elemental analysis using ICP-MS and ICP-OES revealed a marked enrichment in Cd, Cr, Zn and V concentration in UFP compared to the dust box material (nano to dust box ratio ≥ 2). UFP from arterial roads contained two times more Cd, Zn and V and nine times more Cr than UFP from local roads. The highest median concentration of Zn was observed for the municipal expressway, attributed to greater volumes of traffic, including light to heavy duty vehicles, and higher speeds. The observed elevated concentrations of transition metals in UFP are a human health concern, given their potential to cause oxidative stress in lung cells.
Highlights
Accepted: 24 November 2021The chemical composition and contribution of ultrafine particles (UFP;
The current study investigates the metal(loid) concentrations in UFP resuspended from a few key dust box sweepings representative of the three road types
The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cr were higher than those measured in street dust collected from residential areas in the less populated city of Ottawa (Table 2) [46]
Summary
The chemical composition and contribution of ultrafine particles (UFP;
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