Abstract
In this research, we conducted a statistical analysis of ten (metalloid) heavy metals, including Cu, Hg, Cd, Zn, Pb, As, Ni, Cr, Co, and Mn in urban dust of 58 cities in China from 2000 to 2018, and then we analyzed the statistic characters, pollution statue, and health risks of ten heavy metals. Results showed that (1) the maximum (average) values of ten (metalloid) heavy metals in the street dust of 58 Chinese cities all exceeded Chinese background values, and there were obvious differences in contents of heavy metals of Hg, Zn, Co, Cr, and As between industry cities and common cities. A provincial spatial distribution analysis revealed large variations of distributions of heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cr, which distributed in cities mainly located in southern, central, and eastern China, ranging from relatively low to high levels, while Ni, Co, and Mn mainly distributed in southern and central China. This is mainly associated with the mining of the cities. (2) Igeo analysis showed that there was no obvious Ni, Mn, or Co pollution in street dust, while the other tested heavy metals had a range of low to high levels of pollution, in particular, seven metals among them had low to extremely strong levels of pollution (Igeo values between 0 and 7.154), and the average Igeo values were in the following order: Cd > Hg > Zn > Pb > Cu > As>Cr > Mn > Co > Ni. (3) Health risks evaluation showed that of the three exposure ways, the HQing from hand-mouth intake was the most common exposure route for both children and adults, especially for children, followed by skin absorption and respiration ways. This research showed that the HI value for children was higher than 1, indicative of no carcinogenic risks, while the HI values for both male and female were lower than 1, indicative of carcinogenic risks; calculation of carcinogenic risk through respiratory route showed that the risks of five elements were within the range 10−6–10−4, indicative of carcinogenic risk, among which Cr accounting exceeded 90% of total, which needs to be paid more attention to.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akoto O, Ephraim JH, Darko G (2008) Heavy metals pollution in surface soils in the vicinity of abundant railway servicing workshop in Kumasi, Ghana. Int J Environ Res 2(4):359–364
Amarillo AC, Busso IT, Carreras H (2014) Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban environments: health risk assessment by age groups. Environ Pollut 195:157–162
Amin B, Ismail A, Arshad A, Yap CK, Kamarudin MS (2009) Anthropogenic impacts on heavy metal concentrations in the coastal sediments of Dumai, Indonesia. Environ Monit Assess 148(1–4):291–305
Arslan H (2001) Heavy metals in street dust in Bursa, Turkey. J Trace Microprobe Tech 19(3):439–445
Bhuiyan MA, Parvez L, Islam MA, Dampare SB, Suzuki S (2010) Heavy metal pollution of coal mine-affected agricultural soils in the northern part of Bangladesh. J Hazard Mater 173(1–3):384–392
Brady JP, Ayoko GA, Martens WN, Goonetilleke A (2014) Enrichment, distribution and sources of heavy metals in the sediments of Deception Bay, Queensland, Australia. Mar Pollut Bull 81(1):248–255
Chandrasekaran A, Ravisankar R, Harikrishnan N, Satapathy KK, Prasad MVR, Kanagasabapathy KV (2015) Multivariate statistical analysis of heavy metal concentration in soils of Yelagiri Hills, Tamilnadu, India–spectroscopical approach. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 137:589–600
Charlesworth S, Everett M, McCarthy R, Ordonez A, De Miguel E (2003) A comparative study of heavy metal concentration and distribution in deposited street dusts in a large and a small urban area: Birmingham and Coventry, West Midlands, UK. Environ Int 29(5):563–573
Charzyński P, Plak A, Hanaka A (2017) Influence of the soil sealing on the geoaccumulation index of heavy metals and various pollution factors. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24(5):4801–4811
Chen YY, Sun XJ, Wang J, Chen ZL, Xu SY (2010) Spatial variability and distribution of heavy metals in soil of Baoshan District. Environ Chem 29(02):215–219 (In Chinese)
Chen L, Li FQ, Ye W, Zhu LD, Wang TY (2011) Distribution of heavy metals in urban dust on regional scale. Bull Soil Water Conserv 31(06):194–198+212
Chen H, Teng Y, Lu S, Wang Y, Wang J (2015) Contamination features and health risk of soil heavy metals in China. Sci Total Environ 512:143–153
Chen YY, Tang MY, Wang ST, Wang Q, Zhan WX, Huang G (2016) Evaluation of heavy metal pollution in farmland soil of China based on bibliometrics. Chin J Soil Sci 47(1):219–225 (In Chinese)
Creamean JM, Suski KJ, Rosenfeld D, Cazorla A, DeMott PJ, Sullivan RC, Tomlinson JM (2013) Dust and biological aerosols from the Sahara and Asia influence precipitation in the western US. Science 339(6127):1572–1578
CSEPA (State Environmental Protection Administration of China) and CSBTS (China National Bureau of Technical Supervision). Environmental Quality Standard for Soil (GB15618-1995). 1995. (In Chinese)
Day JP, Hart M, Robinson MS (1975) Lead in urban street dust. Nature 253(5490):343–345
EPAC (Environmental Protection Administration of China) (1990) Background value of Chinese soil elements. China Environmental Science Press, Beijng (In Chinese)
EPBB (Environmental Protection Bureau of Beijing) (2007) Environmental Site Assessment Guide (DB11T-656—2009). (In Chinese)
Gope M, Masto RE, George J, Hoque RR, Balachandran S (2017) Bioavailability and health risk of some potentially toxic elements (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) in street dust of Asansol, India. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 138:231–241
Goyal N, Jain SC, Banerjee UC (2003) Comparative studies on the microbial adsorption of heavy metals. Adv Environ Res 7(2):311–319
Gu YG, Gao FD (2017) Spatial distribution and health risk assessment of heavy metals in provincial capital cities, China. Environ Chem 36(1):62–71 (In Chinese)
Guo JT, Zhou J, Hu BB, Meng WQ, Wang ZW, Wang ZL (2014) Health risk assessment on heavy metals in dust of urban parks in Tianjin. Chin J Ecol 33(2):415–420 (In Chinese)
Hankinson L (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control-a sediment ecological approach. Water Res 14:975–1000
Huang J, Li F, Zeng G, Liu W, Huang X, Xiao Z, He Y (2016) Integrating hierarchical bioavailability and population distribution into potential eco-risk assessment of heavy metals in road dust: a case study in Xiandao District, Changsha city, China. Sci Total Environ 541:969–976
Izquierdo M, De Miguel E, Ortega MF, Mingot J (2015) Bioaccessibility of metals and human health risk assessment in community urban gardens. Chemosphere 135:312–318
Keshavarzi B, Tazarvi Z, Rajabzadeh MA, Najmeddin A (2015) Chemical speciation, human health risk assessment and pollution level of selected heavy metals in urban street dust of Shiraz, Iran. Atmos Environ 119:1–10
Khuzestani RB, Souri B (2013) Evaluation of heavy metal contamination hazards in nuisance dust particles, in Kurdistan Province, western Iran. J Environ Sci 25(7):1346–1354
Kong S, Lu B, Ji Y, Zhao X, Bai Z, Xu Y, Jiang H (2012) Risk assessment of heavy metals in road and soil dusts within PM 2.5, PM 10 and PM 100 fractions in Dongying city, Shandong Province, China. J Environ Monit 14(3):791–803
Kurt-Karakus PB (2012) Determination of heavy metals in indoor dust from Istanbul, Turkey: estimation of the health risk. Environ Int 50:47–55
Li RZ, Zhou AJ, Tong F, Wu YD, Zhang P, Yu J (2011) Distribution of metals in urban dusts of Hefei and health risk assessment. Environ Sci 32(9):2661–2668 (In Chinese)
Li RZ, Pan CR, Chen J, Jiang YM, Ding GM (2012) Heavy metal contamination and health risk assessment for urban topsoil and dust in Tongling City. China Environ Sci 32(12):2261–2270 (In Chinese)
Li P, Xue SY, Wang SL, Nan ZR (2014a) Pollution evaluation and health risk assessment of heavy metals from atmospheric deposition in Lanzhou. Environ Sci 35(3):1021–1028 (In Chinese)
Li Z, Ma Z, van der Kuijp TJ, Yuan Z, Huang L (2014b) A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: pollution and health risk assessment. Sci Total Environ 468:843–853
Li Q, Ji H, Qin F, Tang L, Guo X, Feng J (2014c) Sources and the distribution of heavy metals in the particle size of soil polluted by gold mining upstream of Miyun Reservoir, Beijing: implications for assessing the potential risks. Environ Monit Assess 186(10):6605–6626
Li K, Liang T, Wang L, Yang Z (2015) Contamination and health risk assessment of heavy metals in road dust in Bayan Obo Mining Region in Inner Mongolia, North China. J Geogr Sci 25(12):1439–1451
Liu X, Song Q, Tang Y, Li W, Xu J, Wu J, Brookes PC (2013a) Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil–vegetable system: a multi-medium analysis. Sci Total Environ 463:530–540
Liu Y, Fu Q, Gao J, Xu WG, Yin B, Cao YQ, Qin WH (2013b) Concentrations and safety evaluation of heavy metals in aquatic products of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. Environ Sci 34(10):4081–4089 (In Chinese)
Lu X, Li LY, Wang L, Lei K, Huang J, Zhai Y (2009) Contamination assessment of mercury and arsenic in roadway dust from Baoji, China. Atmos Environ 43(15):2489–2496
Lu X, Zhang X, Li LY, Chen H (2014) Assessment of metals pollution and health risk in dust from nursery schools in Xi’an, China. Environ Res 128:27–34
Mafuyai GM, Kamoh NM, Kangpe NS, Ayuba SM, Eneji IS (2015) Heavy metals contamination in road side dust along major traffic roads in Jos metropolitan Area Nigeria. Eur J Earth Environ 2(1):1–14
Manta DS, Angelone M, Bellanca A, Neri R, Sprovieri M (2002) Heavy metals in urban soils: a case study from the city of Palermo (Sicily), Italy. Sci Total Environ 300(1–3):229–243
Men C, Liu R, Xu F, Wang Q, Guo L, Shen Z (2018) Pollution characteristics, risk assessment, and source apportionment of heavy metals in road dust in Beijing, China. Sci Total Environ 612:138–147
MEPC (Ministry of Environmental Protection of China) (2013) Technical Guidelines for Risk Assessment of Contaminated Sites (HJ 25. 3–2014)
MEPC (Ministry of Environmental Protection of China) (2014) “The 12th Five-Year Plan” for comprehensive prevention and control of heavy metal pollution. Beijing. (In Chinese)
Meza-Figueroa D, De la O-Villanueva M, De la Parra ML (2007) Heavy metal distribution in dust from elementary schools in Hermosillo, Sonora, México. Atmos Environ 41(2):276–288
Mielke HW (1999) Lead in the inner cities: policies to reduce children’s exposure to lead may be overlooking a major source of lead in the environment. Am Sci 87(1):62–73
Mmolawa KB, Likuku AS, Gaboutloeloe GK (2011) Assessment of heavy metal pollution in soils along major roadside areas in Botswana. Afr J Environ Sci Technol 5(3):186–196
Muller G (1969) Index of geoaccumulation in sediments of the Rhine River. Geojournal 2(108):108–118
Niu L, Xu Y, Xu C, Yun L, Liu W (2014) Status of phthalate esters contamination in agricultural soils across China and associated health risks. Environ Pollut 195:16–23
Ordóñez A, Álvarez R, De Miguel E, Charlesworth S (2015) Spatial and temporal variations of trace element distribution in soils and street dust of an industrial town in NW Spain: 15 years of study. Sci Total Environ 524:93–103
Qin F, Ji H, Li Q, Guo X, Tang L, Feng J (2014) Evaluation of trace elements and identification of pollution sources in particle size fractions of soil from iron ore areas along the Chao River. J Geochem Explor 138:33–49
Shi G, Chen Z, Xu S, Zhang J, Wang L, Bi C, Teng J (2008) Potentially toxic metal contamination of urban soils and roadside dust in Shanghai, China. Environ Pollut 156(2):251–260
Tang FW (2010) Pollution characteristics and chemical special study of heavy metals in urban street dust of Nanchang. Nan Chang University. Dissertation
Tang RL, Ma KM, Zhang YX et al (2012) Health risk assessment of heavy metals of street dust in Beijing. Acta Sci Circumst 32(8):2006–2015 (In Chinese)
Tang RL, Ma KM, Zhang YX, Mao QZ (2013) The spatial characteristics and pollution levels of metals in urban street dust of Beijing, China. Appl Geochem 35:88–98
Trujillo-González JM, Torres-Mora MA, Keesstra S, Brevik EC, Jiménez-Ballesta R (2016) Heavy metal accumulation related to population density in road dust samples taken from urban sites under different land uses. Sci Total Environ 553:636–642
Uduma AU, Jimoh WLO (2013) High incidence of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and sinusitis in Kano state, North West Nigeria during Saharan Dust Events. Am J Environ Energy Power Res 1(8):174–185
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) (2002) Supplemental guidance for developing soil screening levels for superfund sites. OSWER 9355. 4–24. Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, Washington
USEPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) (2009) Risk assessment guidance for superfund volume I: human health evaluation manual (part F, supplemental guidance for inhalation risk assessment). OSWER 9285.7-82. Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Wang XS, Qin Y, Sang SX (2005) Accumulation and sources of heavy metals in urban topsoils: a case study from the city of Xuzhou, China. Environ Geol 48(1):101–107
Wei BG, Jiang FQ, Li XM, Mu SY (2009) Spatial distribution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in urban road dusts from Urumqi, NW China. Microchem J 93(2):147–152
Wragg J, Cave MR (2003) In-vitro methods for the measurement of the oral bioaccessibility of selected metals and metalloids in soils: a critical review. Environment Agency, Bristol
Xie HF, Fang FM, Wang HD (2010) Research progress on heavy metal pollution in urban street dusts. Environ Pollut Control 32(05):78–81 (In Chinese)
Yang ZP, Lu WX, Long YQ, Bao XH, Yang QC (2011) Assessment of heavy metals contamination in urban topsoil from Changchun City, China. J Geochem Explor 108(1):27–38
Zahra A, Hashmi MZ, Malik RN, Ahmed Z (2014) Enrichment and geo-accumulation of heavy metals and risk assessment of sediments of the Kurang Nallah—feeding tributary of the Rawal Lake Reservoir, Pakistan. Sci Total Environ 470:925–933
Zhang J (2005) Study on the heavy metal pollution in urban street dust of Shanghai. East China normal university, Dissertation. (In Chinse)
Zhao XG, & Duan XL (2014) Highlights of the Chinese expose factors handbook (adults). Beijing: China Environmental Science Press. (In Chinese)
Zheng N, Liu JH, Wang QC, Liang ZZ (2010) Health risk assessment of heavy metal exposure to street dust in the zinc smelting district, Northeast of China. Sci Total Environ 408(4):726–733
Zhu ZM, Li ZG, Bi XY, Han ZY, Yu GH (2013) Response of magnetic properties to heavy metal pollution in dust from three industrial cities in China. J Hazard Mater 246:189–198
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41501541; U1603241), the High-level Talent Introductory Program of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (2016), the National Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang (No. 2017D01C066), the Doctoral Startup Fund of Xinjiang University (No. 62346), and the Scientific Research Startup Project for College Teachers of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XJEDU2017S007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhaoyong, Z., Mamat, A. & Simayi, Z. Pollution assessment and health risks evaluation of (metalloid) heavy metals in urban street dust of 58 cities in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 126–140 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3555-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3555-0