Abstract

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have resulted in environmental pollution and unsustainable development of cities. The concentration of 12 potentially toxic metal(loid)s in windowsill dust samples (n = 50) were investigated from different functional areas of Qom city with the highest level of urbanization in Iran. Spatial analyses (ArcGIS 10.3) and multivariate statistics including Principal Component Analysis and Spearman correlation (using STATISTICA-V.12) were adopted to scrutinize the possible sources of pollution. The windowsill dust was very highly enriched with Sb (50 mg/kg) and Pb (1686 mg/kg). Modified degree of contamination (mCd) and the pollution load indices (PLIzone) indicate that windowsill dust in all functional areas was polluted in the order of industrial > commercial > residential > green space. Arsenic, Cd, Mo, Pb, Sb, Cu, and Zn were sourced from a mixture of traffic and industrial activities, while Mn in the dust mainly stemmed from mining activities. Non-carcinogenic health risk (HI) showed chronic exposure of Pb for children in the industrial zone (HI = 1.73). The estimations suggest the possible carcinogenic risk of As, Pb, and Cr in the dust. The findings of this study reveal poor environmental management of the city. Emergency plans should be developed to minimize the health risks of dust to residents.

Details

Title
Health risk assessment and source apportionment of potentially toxic metal(loid)s in windowsill dust of a rapidly growing urban settlement, Iran
Author
Madadi, Reyhane 1 ; Mohamadi, Sedigheh 1 ; Rastegari, Mohammad 2 ; Karbassi, Abdolreza 3 ; Rakib, Md. Refat Jahan 4 ; Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin 5 ; Faruque, Mohammad Rashed Iqbal 6 ; Idris, Abubakr M. 7 

 Iran University of Science and Technology, Environmental Research Laboratory, School of Civil Engineering, Tehran, Iran (GRID:grid.411748.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0387 0587) 
 Southern Cross University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Lismore, Australia (GRID:grid.1031.3) (ISNI:0000000121532610) 
 University of Tehran, School of Environment, College of Engineering, Tehran, Iran (GRID:grid.46072.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 0612 7950) 
 Noakhali Science and Technology University, Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Noakhali, Bangladesh (GRID:grid.449503.f) (ISNI:0000 0004 1798 7083) 
 Sunway University, Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia (GRID:grid.430718.9) (ISNI:0000 0001 0585 5508); Daffodil International University, Department of General Educational Development, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh (GRID:grid.442989.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2226 6721) 
 University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Space Science Centre (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change (IPI), Bangi, Malaysia (GRID:grid.412113.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 1557) 
 King Khalid University, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Abha, Saudi Arabia (GRID:grid.412144.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 1790 7100); King Khalid University, Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), Abha, Saudi Arabia (GRID:grid.412144.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 1790 7100) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2737303786
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.