ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluating Health Hazards of Harmful Metals
in Roadway Dust Particles Finer than 100 μm
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Department of Environmental Science, School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China
Submission date: 2017-10-01
Final revision date: 2017-11-11
Acceptance date: 2017-11-26
Online publication date: 2018-05-24
Publication date: 2018-07-09
Corresponding author
Xinwei Lu
Department of Environmental Science, School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, China, No. 199, Chang'an Road, 710062 Xi'an, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2018;27(6):2729-2737
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ABSTRACT
Pollution degrees and health hazards of harmful metals in roadway dust particles finer than 100 μm
in various functional areas in Xi’an, China were investigated in our study exploring the impact of land
use methods on the environment. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was used to measure the content
of harmful metals, and their pollution degrees were assessed by using the geoaccumulation index and
Nemerow synthetic pollution index. The health risks of harmful metals to local residents were judged
using the U.S. EPA health risk model. The present study reveals that Co, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Zn in the samples
were 2.1-6.3, 1.9-4.8, 2.1-9.7, 1.1-4.6, and 0.9-13.0 times the corresponding background contents of local
soil, respectively. Due to the influence of local land use and the diversity of sources, harmful metals in
the various functional areas have different variation characteristics. The assessment results show that
Ni, Mn, and V were unpolluted, while Co, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Zn presented pollution in different degrees.
The analyzed harmful metals were moderately polluted in park and traffic areas, while in residential and
educational areas were heavily polluted. The non-carcinogenic hazards of all measured harmful metals
were within the safe range, and the cancer hazards of Co, Cr, and Ni were in the acceptable range.