Spatial Identification and Hotspots of Ecological Risk from Heavy Metals in Urban Dust in the City of Cartagena, SE Spain

Pura Marín-Sanleandro, María José Delgado-Iniesta (), Anthony Felipe Sáenz-Segovia and Antonio Sánchez-Navarro
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Pura Marín-Sanleandro: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
María José Delgado-Iniesta: Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Chemistry, Campus de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Anthony Felipe Sáenz-Segovia: 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

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: In the present work, a study has been carried out on the contamination of heavy metals in urban dust deposited on the roads of the city of Cartagena (Spain) in order to know the content of metals such as Ni, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and Cu. Likewise, the possible relationship between the concentration of heavy metals and the color of the sample, level of magnetism and traffic density was studied. Contamination was evaluated using several indices such as contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), pollutant load index (PLI) and ecological risk index (RI). A total of 88 samples were taken in the urban area of Cartagena, and the metals were determined by acid digestion and measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentration of heavy metals in urban dust from Cartagena was Zn (672 mg kg − 1 ) > Cu (248.9 mg kg − 1 ) > Pb (227 mg kg − 1 ) > Cr (82.7 mg kg − 1 ) > Ni (47.7 mg kg − 1 ) > Cd (4.1 mg kg − 1 ). Contamination levels were high in Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu, according to environmental indices. A correlation was found between magnetism and metal concentration, which was repeated for all metals except Cd. Dark-colored samples contained higher metal concentrations than light-colored samples. Meanwhile, streets with medium and low traffic intensity were found to have higher concentrations of heavy metals. This study’s objective was to identify pollution hotspots caused by heavy metals in dust in the urban ecosystem of Cartagena city.

Keywords: heavy metals; pollution; urban dust; ecological risk index; traffic intensity; hostspots (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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