Letter to the EditorResponse to the comments of Zhang et al. (2014) on “Heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Pollution and ecological risk assessment in street dust of Tehran”
Section snippets
Adaptability of RI for assessment of potential adverse effects of heavy metals contamination in RDS
Before the Saeedi et al. [3] publication, RI has been employed for ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in soil and dust samples in several studies [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9]. It has also been employed by researchers after this publication [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15]. This shows that many researchers accept the view that RI is an appropriate and useful risk assessment index for some environments other than aquatic environment such as terrestrial one. However, the issues raised by
Potential possible future modifications to RI
Another problem regarding RI application mentioned by Saeedi et al. [3] is that all of the discussed contaminants in Hakanson method were not analysed in the Saeedi et al. [3] research, Zhang et al. [1] stated that this leads to an error in risk assessment results according to the Hakanson risk classification. For example, regarding the high toxicological factor for Hg and Cd, the lack of considering these metals in soil or sediment chemical analyses probably leads to the lower values of RI.
To
Summary
Zhang et al. [1] criticize the application of RI for contaminant risk assessment on soil and RSD. As shown by Saeedi et al. [3], it seems that RI can be a useful indicator in heavy metal risk assessment of some environments other than aquatic ones. This is demonstrated when considering contaminant abundance in dry and aquatic environments by extending the Hakanson [2] risk assessment method. Risk boundaries can be modified by considering toxicological factors and the number and type of
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2019, Atmospheric Pollution ResearchSeasonal, spatial variations and risk assessment of heavy elements in street dust from Novi Sad, Serbia
2018, ChemosphereCitation Excerpt :Therefore, the original Hakason RI criteria were modified in order to reduce the number and types of substances. Thus, Hakason RI classification criteria were adjusted taking into consideration only HEs which were determined in carried investigation as it is commonly done in studies of Zhang et al. (2014) and Saeedi et al. (2014). Based on the reference values of these elements, the adjusted evaluation criteria for the ecological risk index RI were: RI < 62 low risk, 62 ≤ RI < 124 moderate risk; 124 ≤ RI < 248 considerable risk, and RI ≥ 248 very high risk.
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