Abstract
The aims of this paper were to quantify the heavy metal concentrations in street dust of small towns in Shanghai suburban area compared with those in urban area, and examine their seasonal and spatial variations, and to assess their risks to water environment and local populations. Street dust samples were collected from three small towns and urban area in Shanghai in different seasons. Levels of heavy metals were determined by atomic adsorption spectrophotometer analyzer. The method of potential ecological risk index and the health risk assessment model were used to evaluate the potential risks to water bodies and local residents, respectively. The mean metal concentrations in street dust of small towns were far above soil background values but still lower than those in the urban area. No significant seasonal change was observed except for Cr, Ni, and Zn concentrations. Higher metal concentrations tended to be located in central area of towns and township roads. The integrated metal contamination was high and posed a strong potential ecological risk. Children had greater health risk than adults. The carcinogenic risk probabilities were under the acceptable level. The hazard index values to children were close to the safe level. Street dust from the studied area has been contaminated by heavy metals. The contamination of these elements is related more to the pollution source than seasonal change. The combination of the six metals may threaten the water environment and has non-cancer health risk to children, but not to adults.
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Acknowledgments
This work was jointly supported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China and Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development of China (grant no. 2009ZX07317-006), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 40971259, 41072258, 40903049), the Science & Technology Department of Shanghai (grant no. 10XD1401600, 10JC1404300), and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong province (grant no. ZR2010DL007). The authors also would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and associate editor who aided in the development and improvement of this paper.
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Zhang, J., Deng, H., Wang, D. et al. Toxic heavy metal contamination and risk assessment of street dust in small towns of Shanghai suburban area, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 323–332 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0908-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0908-y