Risk assessment of heavy metals in road and soil dusts within PM2.5, PM10 and PM100 fractions in Dongying city, Shandong Province, China

Abstract

15 road and 14 soil dust samples were collected from an oilfield city, Dongying, from 11/2009–4/2010 and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) for V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb within PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and PM₁₀₀ fractions synchronously. Metal concentrations, sources and human health risk were studied. Results showed that both soil and road dust exhibited higher values for Mn and Zn and lower values for Co and Cd for the three fractions. Mass concentration ratios of PM_2.5/PM₁₀ and PM₁₀/PM₁₀₀ for metals in road and soil dust indicate that most of the heavy metals tend to concentrate in fine particles. Geoaccumulation index and enrichment factors analysis showed that Cu, Zn and Cd exhibited moderate or heavy contamination and significant enrichment, indicating the influence of anthropogenic sources. Vanadium, Cr, Mn and Co were mostly not enriched and were mainly influenced by crustal sources. For Ni, As and Pb, they ranged from not enriched to moderately enriched and were influenced by both crustal materials and anthropogenic sources. The conclusions were confirmed by multivariate analysis methods. Principle component analysis revealed that the major sources were vehicle emission, industrial activities, coal combustion, agricultural activities and crustal materials. The risk assessment results indicated that metal ingestion appeared to be the main exposure route followed by dermal contact. The most likely cause for cancer and other health risks are both the fine particles of soil and road dusts.