Contaminations, Sources, and Health Risks of Trace Metal(loid)s in Street Dust of a Small City Impacted by Artisanal Zn Smelting Activities

Tingting Wu, Xiangyang Bi, Zhonggen Li, Guangyi Sun, Xinbin Feng, Lihai Shang, Hua Zhang, Tianrong He and Ji Chen
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Tingting Wu: Laboratory of Karst Environmental and Geological Disaster Prevention and Control, Ministry of Land and Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550003, China
Xiangyang Bi: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Zhonggen Li: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Guangyi Sun: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Xinbin Feng: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Lihai Shang: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Hua Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Tianrong He: Laboratory of Karst Environmental and Geological Disaster Prevention and Control, Ministry of Land and Resources, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550003, China
Ji Chen: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: To investigate the impact of artisanal zinc smelting activities (AZSA) on the distribution and enrichment of trace metal(loid)s in street dust of a small city in Guizhou province, SW China, street dust samples were collected and analyzed for 10 trace metal(loid)s (Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sb, Pb, and Hg). Meanwhile, the health risks of local resident exposed to street dust were assessed. The result showed that the average concentrations of 10 elements were Zn (1039 mg kg ?1 ), Pb (423 mg kg ?1 ), Cr (119 mg kg ?1 ), Cu (99 mg kg ?1 ), As (55 mg kg ?1 ), Ni (39 mg kg ?1 ), Co (18 mg kg ?1 ), Sb (7.6 mg kg ?1 ), Cd (2.6 mg kg ?1 ), and Hg (0.22 mg kg ?1 ). Except Ni, Co, and Cr, other elements in street dust were obviously elevated compared to the provincial soil background. Pb, Zn, Cd, Sb, and Cu were at heavy to moderate contamination status, especially Pb and Zn, with maximums of 1723 and 708 mg kg ?1 , respectively; As and Hg were slightly contaminated; while Cr, Ni, and Co were at un-contaminated levels. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed AZSA contributed to the increase of Pb, Zn, Cd, Sb, As, and Hg, while, natural sources introduced Ni, Co, Cr, and Cu. The health risk assessment disclosed that children had higher non-carcinogenic risk than those found in adults, and As has hazardous index (HI) higher than 1 both for children and adults, while Pb and Cr only had HIs higher than 1 for children, other elements were relatively safe. For carcinogenic risks, the major concern was As, then a lesser concern for Cr. The study showed that although the scale of AZSA was small, the contamination of heavy metal(loid)s in street dust and associated health risks were severe.

Keywords: Zn smelting activities; heavy metal(loid); street dust; contamination assessment; health risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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