Assessment of Heavy Metals and Color as Indicators of Contamination in Street Dust of a City in SE Spain: Influence of Traffic Intensity and Sampling Location

Pura Marín Sanleandro, Antonio Sánchez Navarro, Elvira Díaz-Pereira, Francisco Bautista Zuñiga, Miriam Romero Muñoz and María José Delgado Iniesta
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Pura Marín Sanleandro: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Antonio Sánchez Navarro: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Elvira Díaz-Pereira: Soil and Water Conservation Research Group, CEBAS-CSIC, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Francisco Bautista Zuñiga: University Laboratory of Environmental Geophysics (LUGA), Center for Research in Environmental Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico, 58190 Morelia, Mexico
Miriam Romero Muñoz: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
María José Delgado Iniesta: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: In the present work, a sampling grid of the urban core of the city of Murcia (South East Spain) was designed in order to analyze street dust, focusing on the contents of the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn and their relationships with the color of the sample, the traffic pattern, and the location where they were sampled (sidewalks, ledges, and roads). The characterization of the samples was carried out by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, whereas the heavy metals were extracted by acid digestion and determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentration (mg/kg) in urban dust of the city of Murcia was highest for Zn (653), followed by Cu (201) > Pb (177) > Cr (117) > Ni (51) >> Cd (0.5). The color expounded statistically significant differences with regard to the heavy metals, including the pollutant load. The same pattern was found when the classification variable was the traffic intensity, except in the case of Ni. The areas with a higher risk of contamination by heavy metals in the urban dust are the ledges of narrow city center streets with moderate traffic, where Zn and Pb seem to accumulate most greatly.

Keywords: street dust; urban dust; heavy metal; urban contamination; urban pollution; traffic intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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