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Distribution of potentially harmful elements in attic dust from the City of Coronel (Chile)

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Abstract

Attic dusts provide an indirect measure of airborne pollutants deposited in the urban environment. The objectives of this study are: (1) to determine the concentrations of As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn in attic dust in the City of Coronel, (2) to evaluate the source apportionment of PHE and (3) to assess the risk of health effects from exposure in adults and children. In the City of Coronel, attic dust samples were collected in 19 houses. The concentrations of As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn were measured in ICP-OES after Aqua Regia digestion of < 75 µm dust sample. The median (and the range) concentration (mg kg−1) of potentially harmful elements was: As 16 (7–72), Ba 154 (53–251), Cd 0.8 (0.25–14.5), Co 12, (8–22), Cr 38 (22–482), Cu 107 (44–1641), Mn 698 (364–1245), Ni 51 (24–1734), Pb 66 (18–393), Sr 131 (52–252), V 129 (57–376) and Zn 815 (107–9761). The exploratory data analysis shows that Ni, Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb and As distribution is dominated by anthropogenic sources and characterized by high extreme values. Principal component analysis shows four factors. One factor is geogenic, while the other three factors are associated with transport emissions and the industrial park. The resulting median of cumulative noncarcinogenic risk (HIs) value for attic dust was 3.49 for children. This is significant, as any value greater than one indicates an elevated risk.

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Acknowledgements

Collaborative partnerships with the house owner were essential for this study’s success.

Funding

This work was partially supported by CORFO Grant No. 18CTEBI-103643.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Casilla 297, Concepción, Chile

    Paola Painecur, Alejandra Muñoz, Pedro Tume, Tania Melipichun & Francesc Xavier Ferraro

  2. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ambientes Sustentables (CIBAS), Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Casilla 297, Concepción, Chile

    Pedro Tume

  3. Department Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08023, Barcelona, Spain

    Núria Roca & Jaume Bech

Authors
  1. Paola Painecur
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  4. Tania Melipichun
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  5. Francesc Xavier Ferraro
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  7. Jaume Bech
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Contributions

Paola Painecur contributed to sampling, data curation and statistical analysis; Alejandra Muñoz contributed to supervision, sampling and data curation; Pedro Tume contributed to conceptualization, methodology, sampling and writing—original draft preparation and editing; Tania Melipichun contributed to health risk assessment; Francesc Xavier Ferraro contributed to geology; Nuria Roca contributed to investigation and writing—reviewing; Jaume Bech contributed to supervision.

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Correspondence to Pedro Tume.

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The data that support the findings of this work are available from the corresponding author (P. Tume), upon reasonable request.

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Painecur, P., Muñoz, A., Tume, P. et al. Distribution of potentially harmful elements in attic dust from the City of Coronel (Chile). Environ Geochem Health 44, 1377–1386 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01164-x

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