Estimation of Ecological and Human Health Risks Posed by Heavy Metals in Street Dust of Madrid City (Spain)

María José Delgado-Iniesta, Pura Marín-Sanleandro, Elvira Díaz-Pereira, Francisco Bautista, Miriam Romero-Muñoz and Antonio Sánchez-Navarro
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María José Delgado-Iniesta: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Pura Marín-Sanleandro: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Elvira Díaz-Pereira: Soil and Water Conservation Research Group, Spanish National Research Council (CEBAS-CSIC), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Francisco Bautista: University Laboratory of Environmental Geophysics (LUGA), Environmental Geography Research Center, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico No. 8701, Morelia 58190, Michoacan, Mexico
Miriam Romero-Muñoz: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Antonio Sánchez-Navarro: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: In this work, sampling was carried out in the urban area of Madrid to analyze the content of total heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Cd) in the street dust. Contamination was evaluated using various indices, such as the Contamination Factor (CF), Enrichment Factor (EF), Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI), Pollution Load Index (PLI), the Human Health Index Hazard Index (HI), and Cancer Risk (CR). Pollution indices were related to traffic density and color. Traffic density was the factor that most influenced the values of the pollution indexes, but no significant differences were found with the color of street dust. The concentration of heavy metals in the urban dust of Madrid had the following sequence: Zn (895) > Cu (411) > Pb (290) > Cr (100) > Ni (42) > Cd (1.25 mg kg −1 ). The pollution levels were high or very high in Pb, Zn, and Cd regarding the environmental pollution indexes. Ingestion was the main route of exposure to heavy metals contained in street dust. The CR for adults and children is less than 1 × 10 −6 , which means that there is no risk for the population. However, the HI was 10 times higher in children than in adults.

Keywords: urban dust; urban pollution; hazard index; carcinogenic risk; ecological risk index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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