Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ecological and human health risk assessment of toxic metals in street dusts and surface soils in Ahvaz, Iran

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the concentrations and environmental health risk of the potentially toxic metals including Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Cr, and As in street dusts and surface soils of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, located in the southwest of Iran. To this end, a total of 81 street dusts and 96 surface soils were collected from Ahvaz urban areas. Toxic metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and evaluated using enrichment factors, potential ecological risk index and human health risk assessment. Lead in street dusts and Pb and Cu in surface soil showed the highest enrichment factor. The results revealed that there are two major sources of toxic metals in Ahvaz, including industrial activities and road traffic emissions and also resuspension of soil and dust particles. Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cr in Ahvaz soil and dust particles are strongly influenced by anthropogenic activity, mainly industrial and traffic emissions, while As and Co originate from resuspension of soil natural parent particles. The potential ecological risk index (RI) values for dust samples indicated that 58.02% of all samples showed low potential ecological risk. Moreover, 33% and 9% of samples showed moderate and considerable ecological risk, respectively. In addition, the RI values for soil samples indicated that 57% and 40% of all samples had low and moderate ecological risk, respectively, and 3% had a high ecological risk. The hazard index (HI) values of studied potentially toxic metals showed that there is no non-carcinogenic risk for children and adults. Furthermore, the HI value for children was 2–7 times upper than those for adults, which confirm that children show more potential health risks for exposition to these potential toxic metals. Cancer risks of the studied potential toxic elements for both adults and children decreased in the following order Crdust > Crsoil > Cddust > Cdsoil > Asdust > Assoil > Pbdust > Pbsoil. The carcinogenic risk values of Cd, As, and Pb for adults and children was lower than 1 × 10−6, suggesting carcinogenic risk of potentially toxic metals in the street dust and surface soil could be neglected. On the other hand, the carcinogenic risk value of Cr was greater than 1 × 10−6 for both adults and children revealing that the carcinogenic risks of Cr essentially need more consideration for environmental management control.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi, S., Ali Mohammadian, H., Hosseini, S. M., Khorasani, N., Karbasi, A.-R., & Aslani, A. (2017). The concentration of heavy metals in precipitated particles on the leaves of street side trees in the urban environments. Anthropogenic Pollution Journal, 1, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abdallah, M. A. M. (2011). Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals from the surficial sediments of a shallow coastal lagoon. Egypt Environmental Technology, 32, 979–988.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Awadhi, J. M., & AlShuaibi, A. A. (2013). Dust fallout in Kuwait city: Deposition and characterization. Science of the Total Environment, 461, 139–148.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Khashman, O. A. (2004). Heavy metal distribution in dust, street dust and soils from the work place in Karak Industrial Estate, Jordan. Atmospheric Environment, 38, 6803–6812.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alloway, B. J. (2013). Sources of heavy metals and metalloids in soils. In B. J. Alloway (Ed.), Heavy metals in soils (pp. 11–50). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Batjargal, T., Otgonjargal, E., Baek, K., & Yang, J.-S. (2010). Assessment of metals contamination of soils in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 184, 872–876.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, G., & McCready, S. (2009). Catchment condition as a major control on the quality of receiving basin sediments (Sydney Harbour, Australia). Science of the Total Environment, 407, 2820–2835.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caeiro, S., et al. (2005). Assessing heavy metal contamination in Sado Estuary sediment: An index analysis approach. Ecological Indicators, 5, 151–169.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, J., Cao, Y., Tan, H., Wang, Y., & Luo, J. (2011). Fractionation and ecological risk of metals in urban river sediments in Zhongshan City, Pearl River Delta. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 13, 2450–2456.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, A., & Banerjee, R. N. (1999). Determination of lead and other metals in a residential area of greater Calcutta. Science of the Total Environment, 227(2–3), 175–185.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H., Teng, Y., Lu, S., Wang, Y., & Wang, J. (2015). Contamination features and health risk of soil heavy metals in China. Science of the Total Environment, 512, 143–153.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H., Teng, Y., Wang, J., & Song, L. (2012). A framework for pollution characteristic assessment and source apportionment of heavy metal contaminants in riverbed sediments: A case study. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 21, 1110–1117.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, H., & Hu, Y. (2010). Lead (Pb) isotopic fingerprinting and its applications in lead pollution studies in China: A review. Environmental Pollution, 158, 1134–1146.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, Z., et al. (2018). Characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals exposure via household dust from urban area in Chengdu, China. Science of The Total Environment, 619, 621–629.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Civardi, C., et al. (2016). Release of copper-amended particles from micronized copper-pressure-treated wood during mechanical abrasion. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 14, 77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Council, N. R. (1983). Risk assessment in the federal government: Managing the process. Washington: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai, S., Ren, D., Chou, C.-L., Finkelman, R. B., Seredin, V. V., & Zhou, Y. (2012). Geochemistry of trace elements in Chinese coals: A review of abundances, genetic types, impacts on human health, and industrial utilization. International Journal of Coal Geology, 94, 3–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dehghani, S., Moore, F., Keshavarzi, B., & Beverley, A. H. (2017). Health risk implications of potentially toxic metals in street dust and surface soil of Tehran, Iran. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 136, 92–103.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • EPA, U. (2001). Supplemental guidance for developing soil screening levels for superfund sites. Peer Review Draft OSWER, 9355, 4–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esmaeili, A., Moore, F., Keshavarzi, B., Jaafarzadeh, N., & Kermani, M. (2014). A geochemical survey of heavy metals in agricultural and background soils of the Isfahan industrial zone, Iran. Catena, 121, 88–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira-Baptista, L., & De Miguel, E. (2005). Geochemistry and risk assessment of street dust in Luanda, Angola: A tropical urban environment. Atmospheric Environment, 39, 4501–4512.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudet, C., Lingard, S., Cureton, P., Keenleyside, K., Smith, S., & Raju, G. (1995). Canadian environmental quality guidelines for mercury. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 80, 1149–1159.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghanavati, N., & Nazarpour, A. (2016). Heavy metals pollution assessment of roadside soils in the Ahvaz City Junctions. Geochemistry, 5, 47–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water Research, 14, 975–1001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, H. E., & Webb, J. S. (1963). Geochemistry in mineral exploration. Soil Science, 95, 283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, X., Zhang, Y., Ding, Z., Wang, T., Lian, H., Sun, Y., et al. (2012). Bioaccessibility and health risk of arsenic and heavy metals (Cd Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn) in TSP and PM2. 5 in Nanjing, China. Atmospheric Environment, 57, 146–152.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, Y., & Cheng, H. (2013). Application of stochastic models in identification and apportionment of heavy metal pollution sources in the surface soils of a large-scale region. Environmental Science and Technology, 47, 3752–3760.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, M., Chen, X., Shao, D., Zhao, Y., Wang, W., & Wong, M. H. (2014). Risk assessment of arsenic and other metals via atmospheric particles, and effects of atmospheric exposure and other demographic factors on their accumulations in human scalp hair in urban area of Guangzhou, China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 102, 84–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, S., et al. (2009). Multivariate analysis of trace element concentrations in atmospheric deposition in the Yangtze River Delta, East China. Atmospheric Environment, 43, 5781–5790.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, H.-M., Fiala, M. J., Park, D., & Wade, T. L. (2016). Review of pollutants in urban road dust and stormwater runoff: Part 1. Heavy metals released from vehicles. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 20, 334–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, X., Xiong, Z., Liu, H., Liu, G., & Liu, W. (2017b). Distribution, source identification, and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in wetland soils of a river–reservoir system. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24, 436–444.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Y., Chao, S., Liu, J., Yang, Y., Chen, Y., Zhang, A., et al. (2017a). Source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil for a township in Jiangsu Province, China. Chemosphere, 168, 1658–1668.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiries, A. (2003). Vehicular contamination of dust in Amman, Jordan. Environmentalist, 23(3), 205–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabata-Pendias, A. (2010). Trace elements in soils and plants. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Karbassi, A., Tajziehchi, S., & Afshar, S. (2015). An investigation on heavy metals in soils around oil field area. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 1, 275.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kartal, Ş., Aydın, Z., & Tokalıoğlu, Ş. (2006). Fractionation of metals in street sediment samples by using the BCR sequential extraction procedure and multivariate statistical elucidation of the data. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 132, 80–89.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keshavarzi, B., Tazarvi, Z., Rajabzadeh, M. A., & Najmeddin, A. (2015). Chemical speciation, human health risk assessment and pollution level of selected heavy metals in urban street dust of Shiraz, Iran. Atmospheric Environment, 119, 1–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, K., Liang, T., Wang, L., & Yang, Z. (2015). Contamination and health risk assessment of heavy metals in road dust in Bayan Obo Mining Region in Inner Mongolia, North China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 25, 1439–1451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Z., Ma, Z., van der Kuijp, T. J., Yuan, Z., & Huang, L. (2014). A review of soil heavy metal pollution from mines in China: Pollution and health risk assessment. Science of the Total Environment, 468, 843–853.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, S., & Bai, S. (2010). Contamination and potential mobility assessment of heavy metals in urban soils of Hangzhou, China: Relationship with different land uses. Environmental Earth Sciences, 60, 1481–1490.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, X., Zhang, X., Li, L. Y., & Chen, H. (2014). Assessment of metals pollution and health risk in dust from nursery schools in Xi’an, China. Environmental Research, 128, 27–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Man, Y. B., et al. (2010). Health risk assessment of abandoned agricultural soils based on heavy metal contents in Hong Kong, the world’s most populated city. Environment International, 36, 570–576.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medici, L., Bellanova, J., Belviso, C., Cavalcante, F., Lettino, A., Ragone, P. P., et al. (2011). Trace metals speciation in sediments of the Basento River (Italy). Applied Clay Science, 53, 414–442.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Namaghi, H. H., Karami, G. H., & Saadat, S. (2011). A study on chemical properties of groundwater and soil in ophiolitic rocks in Firuzabad, east of Shahrood, Iran: With emphasis to heavy metal contamination. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 174(1–4), 573–583.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nazarpour, A., Ghanavati, N., & Babaenejad, T. (2017). Evaluation of the level of pollution and potential ecological risk of some heavy metals in surface soils in the Ahvaz oil-field. Iranian Journal of Health and Environment, 10, 391–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nazarpour, A., Ghanavati, N., & Watts, M. J. (2018). Spatial distribution and human health risk assessment of mercury in street dust resulting from various land-use in Ahvaz, Iran. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 40, 693–704.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nazarpour, A., Paydar, G. R., & Carranza, E. J. M. (2016). Stepwise regression for recognition of geochemical anomalies: Case study in Takab area, NW Iran. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 168, 150–162.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oves, M., Khan, M. S., Zaidi, A., & Ahmad, E. (2012). Soil contamination, nutritive value, and human health risk assessment of heavy metals: An overview. In A. Zaidi, P. A. Wani, & M. S. Khan (Eds.), Toxicity of heavy metals to legumes and bioremediation (pp. 1–27). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozaki, H., Watanabe, I., & Kuno, K. (2004). As, Sb and Hg distribution and pollution sources in the roadside soil and dust around Kamikochi, Chubu Sangaku National Park, Japan. Geochemical Journal, 38, 473–484.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna, E. G., et al. (2007). Current and future emissions of selected heavy metals to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources in Europe. Atmospheric Environment, 41, 8557–8566.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reimann, C., & de Caritat, P. (2005). Distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic sources for elements in the environment: Regional geochemical surveys versus enrichment factors. Science of the Total Environment, 337, 91–107.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick, R., & Gao, S. (2003a). Composition of the continental crust. Treatise on Geochemistry, 3, 1–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick, R. L., & Gao, S. (2003b). Composition of the continental crust. Treatise on Geochemistry, 3, 659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saeedi, M., Li, L. Y., & Salmanzadeh, M. (2012). Heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Pollution and ecological risk assessment in street dust of Tehran. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 227, 9–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarma, H., Islam, N., Borgohain, P., Sarma, A., & Prasad, M. (2016). Localization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals in surface soil of Asia’s oldest oil and gas drilling site in Assam, north-east India: Implications for the bio-economy. Emerging Contaminants, 2, 119–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi, G., Chen, Z., Xu, S., Zhang, J., Wang, L., Bi, C., et al. (2008). Potentially toxic metal contamination of urban soils and roadside dust in Shanghai, China. Environmental Pollution, 156, 251–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. H., et al. (2006). Increased mortality from lung cancer and bronchiectasis in young adults after exposure to arsenic in utero and in early childhood. Environmental Health Perspectives, 114, 1293.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soltani, N., Keshavarzi, B., Moore, F., Tavakol, T., Lahijanzadeh, A. R., Jaafarzadeh, N., et al. (2015). Ecological and human health hazards of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust of Isfahan metropolis, Iran. Science of the Total Environment, 505, 712–723.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Staff, E. (2001). Supplemental guidance for developing soil screening levels for Superfund Sites, Peer Review Draft. Washington, DC: US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, OSWER:9355 (pp. 9354–9324).

  • Szolnoki, Z., Farsang, A., & Puskás, I. (2013). Cumulative impacts of human activities on urban garden soils: Origin and accumulation of metals. Environmental Pollution, 177, 106–115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, P. A., Ma, H.-L., & Yu, P. K. (2008). Fingerprinting metals in urban street dust of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Environmental Science and Technology, 42, 7111–7117.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teng, Y., Ni, S., Wang, J., Zuo, R., & Yang, J. (2010). A geochemical survey of trace elements in agricultural and non-agricultural topsoil in Dexing area, China. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 104, 118–127.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tukey, J. W. (1977). Exploratory data analysis (Vol. 2). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • USEPA, M. (1996). Soil screening guidance technical background document Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, DC EPA/540 95.

  • USEPA, U. (1997). Exposure factors handbook Office of Research and Development, Washington.

  • Van den Berg, R. (1994). Human exposure to soil contamination: A qualitative and quantitative analysis towards proposals for human toxicological intervention values (partly revised edition). RIVM Rapport 725201011.

  • Wang, W., Zheng, J., Chan, C.-Y., M-j, Huang, Cheung, K. C., & Wong, M. H. (2014). Health risk assessment of exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) contained in residential air particulate and dust in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Atmospheric Environment, 89, 786–796.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Yang, L., Kong, L., Liu, E., Wang, L., & Zhu, J. (2015). Spatial distribution, ecological risk assessment and source identification for heavy metals in surface sediments from Dongping Lake, Shandong, East China. Catena, 125, 200–205.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watt, J., Thornton, I., & Cotter-Howells, J. (1993). Physical evidence suggesting the transfer of soil Pb into young children via hand-to-mouth activity. Applied Geochemistry, 8, 269–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei, X., Gao, B., Wang, P., Zhou, H., & Lu, J. (2015). Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in street dusts from different functional areas in Beijing, China. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 112, 186–192.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, S., et al. (2015). Levels and health risk assessments of heavy metals in urban soils in Dongguan, China. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 148, 71–78.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuen, J., Olin, P. H., Lim, H., Benner, S. G., Sutherland, R., & Ziegler, A. (2012). Accumulation of potentially toxic elements in road deposited sediments in residential and light industrial neighborhoods of Singapore. Journal of Environmental Management, 101, 151–163.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zarasvandi A, Moore F, Nazarpour A (2011a) First report on Pb isotope composition of dust storms particles in Khuzestan Province: Concerning on source and geo-environmental characteristics.

  • Zarasvandi, A., Moore, F., & Nazarpour, A. (2011b). Mineralogy and morphology of dust storms particles in Khuzestan Province: XRD and SEM analysis concerning. Iranian Journal of Crystallography and Mineralogy, 19, 511–518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J., & Liu, C. (2002). Riverine composition and estuarine geochemistry of particulate metals in China—Weathering features, anthropogenic impact and chemical fluxes. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 54, 1051–1070.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, R., Zhang, F., Guan, M., Shu, Y., & Li, T. (2017). Sources and chronology of combustion-derived pollution to Shilianghe Reservoir, eastern China: Evidences from PAHs profiles, As, Hg, Pb and Pb isotopes. Catena, 149, 232–240.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, L., Xu, Y., Hou, H., Shangguan, Y., & Li, F. (2014). Source identification and health risk assessment of metals in urban soils around the Tanggu chemical industrial district, Tianjin, China. Science of the Total Environment, 468, 654–662.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, N., Liu, J., Wang, Q., & Liang, Z. (2010). Health risk assessment of heavy metal exposure to street dust in the zinc smelting district, Northeast of China. Science of the Total Environment, 408, 726–733.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

    Navid Ghanavati

  2. Department of Geology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

    Ahad Nazarpour

  3. Pegaso University & Benecon Scarl, Naples, Italy

    Benedetto De Vivo

Authors
  1. Navid Ghanavati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ahad Nazarpour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Benedetto De Vivo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahad Nazarpour.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ghanavati, N., Nazarpour, A. & De Vivo, B. Ecological and human health risk assessment of toxic metals in street dusts and surface soils in Ahvaz, Iran. Environ Geochem Health 41, 875–891 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0184-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0184-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation