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Assessment of the influence of traffic-related particles in urban dust using sequential selective extraction and oral bioaccessibility tests

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Abstract

Urban dust is a heterogeneous mix, where traffic-related particles can combine with soil mineral compounds, forming a unique and site-specific material. These traffic-related particles are usually enriched in potentially harmful elements, enhancing the health risk for population by inhalation or ingestion. Urban dust samples from Estarreja city and traffic-related particles (brake dust and white traffic paint) were studied to understand the relative contribution of the traffic particles in the geochemical behaviour of urban dust and to evaluate the long-term impacts of the metals on an urban environment, as well as the risk to the populations. It was possible to distinguish two groups of urban dust samples according to Cu behaviour: (1) one group with low amounts of fine particles (<38 µm), low contents of organic material, high percentage of Cu in soluble phases, and low Cu bioaccessible fraction (Bf) values. This group showed similar chemical behaviour with the brake dust samples of low- to mid-range car brands (with more than 10 years old), composed by coarser wear particles; and (2) another group with greater amounts of fine particles (<38 µm), with low percentage of Cu associated with soluble phases, and with greater Cu Bf values. This group behaved similar to those found for brake dust of mid- to high-range car brands (with less than 10 years old). The results obtained showed that there is no direct correlation between the geoavailability of metals estimated by sequential selective chemical extraction (SSCE) and the in vitro oral bioaccessibility (UBM) test. Thus, oral bioaccessibility of urban dust is site specific. Geoavailability was greatly dependent on particle size, where the bioaccessibility tended to increase with a reduction in particle diameter. As anthropogenic particles showed high metal concentration and a smaller size than mineral particles, urban dusts are of major concern to the populations’ health, since fine particles are easily re-suspended, easily ingested, and show high metal bioaccessibility. In addition, Estarreja is a coastal city often influenced by winds, which favours the re-suspension of small-sized contaminated particles. Even if the risk to the population does not represent an acute case, it should not be overlooked, and this study can serve as baseline study for cities under high traffic influence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Labex DRIIHM and the Réseau des Observatoire Hommes-Millieux–Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (ROHM-CNRS) for the financial support to the project ‘Oral Bioaccessibility estimates of arsenic in street dusts from Estarreja city, Portugal, to assess exposure and risk to human health’ and to the Foundation for Science and the Technology (FCT-Portugal) for the supporting project PEst-C/CTE/UI4035/2011. The authors thank to Prof. Iuliu Bobos and to the DGAOT–Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto for allowing the FTIR analysis. Finally, the authors also thank to Dr. Jane A. Entwistle for the exceptional editorial handling and suggestions during the review process and to the reviewers for their very careful revision and pertinent remarks carried out on this draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GeoBioTec, Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    C. Patinha, N. Durães, A. C. Dias, A. P. Reis & E. Ferreira da Silva

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    P. Sousa

  3. CNRS, CEREGE, UMR 7330, 13545, Aix en Provence Cedex 4, France

    Y. Noack

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  1. C. Patinha
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Correspondence to C. Patinha.

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Patinha, C., Durães, N., Sousa, P. et al. Assessment of the influence of traffic-related particles in urban dust using sequential selective extraction and oral bioaccessibility tests. Environ Geochem Health 37, 707–724 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-015-9713-0

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