Abstract
The spatial distribution, pollution level, and exposure risk of Pb in the finer dust (particle size < 63 μm) of residential areas in Xi’an, northwest China were investigated in this study. Geographical information systems and geodetector methods were used to analyze the spatial variability of Pb content in the finer dust of Xi’an and its forming mechanism. The enrichment factor was used to assess the extent of Pb pollution, and the hazard index was used to evaluate the health risks to children and adults exposed to Pb. The results showed that the average content of Pb in the finer dust of residential areas in Xi'an was 99.9 mg kg−1. In the Xi’an urban area, a higher Pb content was mainly found in the finer dust near the Second Ring Road of Xi’an City, and the Pb content in the old town of Xi'an City was relatively lower than that near the Second Ring Road. The results of geodetector analysis indicate that the spatial variability of Pb in the finer dust of the Xi’an urban area was primarily controlled by the interaction among vehicle emissions, daily behavior of residents, and industrial emissions. Pb in the finer dust from residential areas in all districts showed moderate enrichment. The non-cancer risks of Pb in the finer dust were within the safe range for both children and adults. However, the prolonged exposure risk of Pb in the finer dust of residential areas should be considered for children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The authors declare that the data and material have free access.
References
Acosta, J. A., Gabarrón, M., Faz, A., Martínez-Martínez, S., Zornoza, R., & Arocena, J. M. (2015). Influence of population density on the concentration and speciation of metals in the soil and street dust from urban areas. Chemosphere, 134, 328–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.04.038
Bergamaschi, L., Rizzio, E., Valcuvia, M. G., Verza, G., Profumo, A., & Gallorini, M. (2002). Determination of trace elements and evaluation of their enrichment factors in Himalayan lichens. Environmental Pollution, 120(1), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(02)00138-0
Bourliva, A., Papadoupoulou, L., & Aidona, E. (2016). Study of road dust magnetic phases as the main carrier of potentially harmful trace elements. Science of the Total Environment, 553, 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.149
Carrol, S. S., & Cressie, N. (1996). A comparison of geostatistical methodologies used to estimate snow water equivalent. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 32(2), 267–278. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1996.tb03450.x
Castanheiro, A., Hofman, J., Nuyts, G., Joosen, S., Spassov, S., Blust, R., et al. (2020). Leaf accumulation of atmospheric dust: Biomagnetic, morphological and elemental evaluation using SEM ED-XRF and HR-ICP-MS. Atmospheric Environment, 221, 117082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117082
Chen, H., & Lu, X. (2019). Origin and distribution of trace elements in the campus dust of Xi’an, China. Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry, 101, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/02772248.2019.1621312
Chen, H., Lu, X., Gao, T., & Chang, Y. (2016). Identifying hot-spots of metal contamination in campus dust of Xi’an China. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 13(6), 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13060555
Chen, H., Lu, X., & Li, L. Y. (2014a). Spatial distribution and risk assessment of metals in dust based on samples from nursery and primary schools of Xi’an, China. Atmospheric Environment, 88, 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.01.054
Chen, H., Lu, X., Li, L. Y., Gao, T., & Chang, Y. (2014b). Metal contamination in campus dust of Xi’an, China: A study based on multivariate statistics and spatial distribution. Science of the Total Environment, 484, 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.03.026
Chen, X., & Lu, X. (2018). Contamination characteristics and source apportionment of heavy metals in topsoil from an area in Xi’an city China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 151(30), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.01.010
Chen, X., Lu, X., Li, L. Y., & Yang, G. (2013). Spatial distribution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in urban topsoil from inside the Xi’an second ringroad NW China. Environmental Earth Sciences, 68(7), 1979–1988. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-1885-7
Chen, X., Lu, X., & Yang, G. (2012). Sources identification of heavy metals in urban topsoil from inside the Xi’an Second Ringroad, NW China using multivariate statistical methods. CATENA, 98, 73–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2012.06.007
Chen, X., Lu, X., Zhao, C., & Luo, D. (2011). The spatial distribution of heavy metals in the urban topsoil collected from the interior area of the second ring road Xi’an. Acta Geographica Sinica, 66(9), 1281–1288. in Chinese.
CNEMC (China National Environmental Monitoring, Centre). . (1990). The soil background value in China. China Environmental Science Press.
Cui, X., Wang, X., & Liu, B. (2020). The characteristics of heavy metal pollution in surface dust in Tangshan, a heavily industrialized city in North China, and an assessment of associated health risks. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 210, 106432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2019.106432
Eivazzadeh, M., Yadeghari, A., & Gholampour, A. (2019). Temporal and spatial variations of deposition and elemental composition of dust fall and its source identification around Tabriz Iran. Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering, 17(1), 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-018-00323-0
Evans, E., Ma, M., Kingston, L., Leharne, S., & Chowdhry, B. (1992). The speciation pattern of lead in street dusts and soils in the vicinity of two London schools. Environment International, 18(2), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-4120(92)90003-M
Guven, E. D. (2019). Heavy metal contamination in street dusts and soils under different land uses in a major river basin in an urbanized zone of Aegean region, Turkey. Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering, 17(2), 917–930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-019-00408-4
Han, N. M. M., Latif, M. T., Othman, M., Dominick, D., Mohamad, N., Juahir, H., et al. (2014). Composition of selected heavy metals in road dust from Kuala Lumpur city centre. Environmental Earth Sciences, 72(3), 849–859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-3008-5
Han, Q., Wang, M., Cao, J., Gui, C., Liu, Y., He, X., et al. (2020). Health risk assessment and bioaccessibilities of heavy metals for children in soil and dust from urban parks and schools of Jiaozuo China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 191, 110157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124984
Han, X., & Lu, X. (2017). Spatial distribution, environmental risk source of heavy metals in street dust from an industry city in semi-arid area of China. Archives of Environmental Protection., 43(2), 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1515/aep-2017-0013
Han, X., Lu, X., Zhang, Q., Hai, Q., & Pan, H. (2016). Grain-size distribution and contamination characteristics of heavy metal in street dust of Baotou, China. Environmental Earth Sciences., 75(6), 468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5316-z
Han, Y., Cao, J., Posmentier, Eric S., Fung, K., Tian, H., & An, Z. (2008). Particulate-associated potentially harmful elements in urban road dusts in Xi’an, China. Applied Geochemistry, 23(4), 835–845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2007.09.008
Han, Y., Du, P., Cao, J., & Posmentier, E. S. (2006). Multivariate analysis of heavy metal contamination in urban dusts of Xi’an, Central China. Science of the Total Environment, 355(1), 176–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.02.026
Hejami, A. A., Davis, M., Prete, D., Lu, J., & Wang, S. (2020). Heavy metals in indoor settled dusts in Toronto Canada. Science of the Total Environment, 703, 134895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134895
Kolakkandi, V., Sharma, B., Rana, A., Dey, S., Rawat, P., & Sarkar, S. (2020). Spatially resolved distribution, sources and health risks of heavy metals in size-fractionated road dust from 57 sites across megacity Kolkata India. Science of the Total Environment, 705, 135805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135805
Lee, B. K., & Dong, T. T. T. (2011). Toxicity and source assignment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in road dust from urban residential and industrial areas in a typical industrial city in Korea. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 13(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-010-0287-8
Lei, K., Lu, X., Wang, L., Zhai, Y., Huang, J., & Qu, Y. (2008). Distribution and evaluation on potential ecological risk of heavy metals in Wei river surface sediment of Xi’an. Geological Science and Technology Information., 27(3), 83–87. in Chinese.
Li, H., Chen, L., Yu, L., Guo, Z., Shan, C., Lin, J., et al. (2017a). Pollution characteristics and risk assessment of human exposure to oral bioaccessibility of heavy metals via urban street dusts from different functional areas in Chengdu, China. Science of the Total Environment, 586, 1076–1084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.092
Li, J., Garshick, E., Al-Hemoud, A., Huang, S., & Koutrakis, P. (2020). Impacts of meteorology and vegetation on surface dust concentrations in Middle Eastern countries. Science of the Total Environment, 712, 136597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136597
Li, Y., Han, P., Ren, D., Luo, N., & Wang, J. (2017b). Influence factor analysis of farmland soil heavy metal based on the geographical detector. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 50(21), 4138–4148. in Chinese.
Lu, X., Li, L. Y., Wang, L., Lei, K., Huang, J., & Zhai, Y. (2009a). Contamination assessment of mercury and arsenic in roadway dust from Baoji China. Atmospheric Environment, 43(15), 2489–2496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.01.048
Lu, X., Pan, H., & Wang, Y. (2017a). Pollution evaluation and source analysis of heavy metal in roadway dust from a resource-typed industrial city in Northwest China. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 8(3), 587–595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2016.12.019
Lu, X., Shi, D., Yin, N., Pan, H., & Smith, P. (2017b). Risk assessment of heavy metals in finer than 63-μm dust particles from various functional areas in Xi’an, China. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, 10(7), 907–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-017-0480-1
Lu, X., Wang, L., Lei, K., Huang, J., & Zhai, Y. (2009b). Contamination assessment of copper, lead, zinc, manganese and nickel in street dust of Baoji, NW China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 161(2), 1058–1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.04.052
Lu, X., Wu, X., Wang, Y., Chen, H., Gao, P., & Fu, Y. (2014a). Risk assessment of toxic metals in street dust from a medium-sized industrial city of China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 106, 154–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2014.04.022
Lu, X., Zhang, X., Li, L. Y., & Chen, H. (2014b). Assessment of metals pollution and health risk in dust from nursery schools in Xi’an China. Environmental Research, 128(1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2013.11.007
Ma, T., Zhou, C., Pei, T., Haynie, S., & Fan, J. (2012). Quantitative estimation of urbanization dynamics using time series of DMSP/OLS nighttime light data: A comparative case study from China’s cities. Remote Sensing of Environment, 124, 99–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.04.018
MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC). (2013). Exposure factors handbook of Chinese population (adults). China Environmental Science Press.
MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC). (2014). Technical guidelines for risk assessment of contaminated sites. China Environmental Science Press.
MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC). (2016). Exposure factors handbook of Chinese population (children). China Environmental Science Press.
Mihankhah, T., Saeedi, M., & Karbassi, A. (2020). A comparative study of elemental pollution and health risk assessment in urban dust of different land-uses in Tehran’s urban area. Chemosphere, 241, 124984. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124984
Pan, H., Lu, X., & Lei, K. (2017). A comprehensive analysis of heavy metals in urban road dust of Xi’an, China: Contamination, source apportionment and spatial distribution. Science of the Total Environment, 609(31), 1361–1369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.004
Pan, H., Lu, X., & Lei, K. (2018). Lead in roadway dusts from different functional areas in a typical valley city, NW China: Contamination and exposure risk. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25(1), 523–532. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0467-3
Phillips, D. L., Dolph, J., & Marks, D. (1992). A comparison of geostatistical procedures for spatial analysis of prcipitation in mountainous terrain. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 58(1–2), 119–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1923(92)90114-J
Rehman, A., Liu, G., Yousaf, B., Zia-ur-Rehman, M., Ali, M. U., Rashid, M. S., et al. (2020). Characterizing pollution indices and children health risk assessment of potentially toxic metal(oid)s in school dust of Lahore Pakistan. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 190, 110059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2019.110059
Saeedi, M., Li, L. Y., & Salmanzadeh, M. (2012). Heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Pollution and ecological risk assessment in street dust of Tehran. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 227, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.04.047
Shi, D., & Lu, X. (2018). Accumulation degree and source apportionment of trace metals in smaller than 63 μm road dust from the areas with different land uses: A case study of Xi’an, China. Science of the Total Environment, 636, 1211–1218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.385
USEPA (United States Environmental protection Agency). (2001). Supplemental guidance for developing soil screening levels for superfund sites. Office of Emergency and Remedial Remedial Response.
USEPA (United States Environmental protection Agency). (2011). Exposure factors handbook. Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.: National Center for Environmental Assessment.
USEPA (United States Environmental protection Agency). (1989). Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS): volume I. Human Health Evaluation Manual (HHEM)-Part A, baseline risk assessment. Office of Emergency and Remedial Remedial Response, Washington DC [EPA/540/R-95/128].
Wahab, M. I. A., Razak, W. M. A. A., Sahani, M., & Khan, M. F. (2020). Characteristics and health effect of heavy metals on non-exhaust road dusts in Kuala Lumpur. Science of the Total Environment, 703, 135535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135535
Wang, G., Chen, J., Zhang, W., Chen, Y., Ren, F., Fang, A., et al. (2019a). Relationship between magnetic properties and heavy metal contamination of street dust samples from Shanghai, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26, 8958–8970. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04338-4
Wang, H., Cai, L., Wang, Q., Hu, G., & Chen, L. (2021). A comprehensive exploration of risk assessment and source quantification of potentially toxic elements in road dust: A case study from a large Cu smelter in central China. CATENA, 196, 104930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104930
Wang, H., Shen, C., Kang, Y., Deng, Q., & Lin, X. (2020). Spatial distribution of pollution characteristics and human health risk assessment of exposure to heavy elements in road dust from different functional areas of Zhengzhou, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 26650–26667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08942-7
Wang, J., Li, X., Christakos, G., Liao, Y., Zhang, T., Gu, X., et al. (2010). Geographical detectors-based health risk assessment and its application in the neural tube defects study of the Heshun region, China. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 24(1), 107–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658810802443457
Wang, J., & Xu, C. (2017). Geodetector: Principle and prospective. Acta Geographica Sinica, 72(1), 116–134. in Chinese.
Wang, J., Zhang, T., & Fu, B. (2016a). A measure of spatial stratified heterogeneity. Ecological Indicators, 67, 250–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.02.052
Wang, Q., Lu, X., & Pan, H. (2016b). Analysis of heavy metals in the re-suspended road dusts from different functional areas in Xi’an, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23, 19838–19846. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7200-5
Wang, Y., Xue, Z., Chen, J., & Chen, G. (2019b). Spatio-temporal analysis of phenology in Yangtze river delta based on MODIS NDVI time series from 2001 to 2015. Frontiers of Earth Science, 13(1), 92–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-018-0713-0
Wei, X., Gao, B., Wang, P., Zhou, H., & Lu, J. (2015). Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in street dusts from different functional areas in Beijing, China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 112, 186–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2014.11.005
XAMBS (Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Statistics). (2019). Xi’an Statistical Yearbook in 2019. China Statistics Press.
Xie, T., Wang, M., Chen, W., & Uwizeyimana, H. (2019). Impacts of urbanization and landscape patterns on the accumulation of heavy metals in soils in residential areas in Beijing. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 19(1), 148–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2011-6
Yadav, I. C., Devi, N. L., & Singh, V. K. (2019). Spatial distribution, source analysis, and health risk assessment of heavy metals contamination in house dust and surface soil from four major cities of Nepal. Chemosphere, 218, 1100–1113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.11.202
Yang, X., Jiang, D., Wang, N., & Liu, H. (2002). Method of Pixelizing Population Data. Acta Geographica Sinica, 57(7s), 70–75. in Chinese.
Yu, B., Lu, X., Fan, X., Fan, P., Zuo, L., Yang, Y., & Wang, L. (2021). Analyzing environmental risk, source and spatial distribution of potentially toxic elements in dust of residential area in Xi’an urban area China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 208, 111679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111679
Yu, Y., Li, Y., Li, B., Shen, Z., & Stenstrom, M. K. (2016). Metal enrichment and lead isotope analysis for source apportionment in the urban dust and rural surface soil. Environmental Pollution, 216, 764–772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.06.046
Zhang, W., Zhang, S., Wan, C., Yue, D., Ye, Y., & Wang, X. (2008). Source diagnostics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban road runoff, dust, rain and canopy throughfall. Environmental Pollution, 153(3), 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.09.004
Zhang, X., Wei, S., Sun, Q., Wadood, S. A., & Guo, B. (2018). Source identification and spatial distribution of arsenic and heavy metals in agricultural soil around Hunan industrial estate by positive matrix factorization model, principle components analysis and geo statistical analysis. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 159, 354–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.04.072
Zhao, L., Hu, G., Yan, Y., Yu, R., Cui, J., Wang, X., et al. (2019). Source apportionment of heavy metals in urban road dust in a continental city of eastern China: Using Pb and Sr isotopes combined with multivariate statistical analysis. Atmospheric Environment, 201, 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.12.050
Zhao, N., Lu, X., & Chao, S. (2016). Risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in smaller than 100-μm street dust particles from a valley-city in northwestern China. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 38(2), 483–496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9734-8
Zheng, N., Liu, J., Wang, Q., & Liang, Z. (2010). Health risk assessment of heavy metal exposure to street dust in the zinc smelting district, Northeast of China. Science of the Total Environment, 408(4), 726–733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.10.075
Zhou, Q., Zheng, N., Liu, J., Wang, Y., Sun, C., Liu, Q., et al. (2015). Residents health risk of Pb, Cd and Cu exposure to street dust based on different particle sizes around zinc smelting plant, Northeast of China. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 37(2), 207–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9640-5
Zimmerman, D., Pavlik, C., Ruggles, A., & Armstrong, M. P. (1999). An experimental comparison of ordinary an universal kriging and inverse distance weighting. Mathematical Geosciences., 31, 375–390. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007586507433
Acknowledgements
We thank Zetao Wang, Yuyang Yu, Cheng Zhang, and Xiangfeng Zhang for data visualization and software application. We also appreciate the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their critical reviews and insightful suggestion.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through Grant 41271510, the Research and Development Key Project of Shaanxi Province, China, with Grant 2020SF-433, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities with Grant 2021CBLZ003.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
BY was involved in conceptualization, methodology, experimental execution, data analysis, writing the original draft, and doing the revision; XL had contributed to conceptualization, methodology, supervision, writing, reviewing, and editing; XF had contributed to data analysis and software; PF, LZ, and YY had contributed to investigation and visualization; and LW had contributed to methodology, writing, reviewing, and editing, and software. All authors approved final version of the manuscript for publication.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, B., Lu, X., Fan, X. et al. Spatial distribution, pollution level, and health risk of Pb in the finer dust of residential areas: a case study of Xi'an, northwest China. Environ Geochem Health 44, 3541–3554 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01116-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01116-5