Seasonal concentrations, contamination levels, and health risk assessment of arsenic and heavy metals in the suspended particulate matter from an urban household environment in a metropolitan city, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The levels and health risks of arsenic and heavy metals (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in the suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected from an urban household environment in Beijing of China for 12months were investigated. The mean concentrations of the studied toxic elements were higher and lower than crustal abundance and PM2.5 in the urban outdoors of Beijing. The concentrations of the studied elements displayed significant seasonality. The highest concentrations of the total elements occurred in winter, followed by autumn, while the lowest concentrations were recorded in summer. Based on the calculated values of enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo), the levels for As and Cu were heavily contaminated, while those for Cd, Pb, and Zn were extremely contaminated. As and Pb might pose risks to children and adults via ingestion exposure. The accumulative risks of multi-elements resulted from dermal contact and inhalation exposures were not negligible. More attention should be paid to reducing the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks posed by the toxic elements bound to urban household SPM particles via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact exposure.