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Metal concentrations and source identification in Chilean public children’s playgrounds

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This study is focused on four Biobio region cities, Concepcion, Talcahuano, Los Ángeles, and Tomé; these cities flourished very close to different industrial activities. We determined a pseudo total concentration of seven heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) in playground soils through inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that contamination in soils comes from three principal sources. Firstly, industrial and burning activities; secondly, the use of phytosanitary and chemical products; and thirdly, vehicular traffic emissions. Zn and Cu are the most abundant analyzed elements in all the playground’s soils. Concepción reflected the lowest values of pollutants and Talcahuano the highest, reflecting the industrial effects. The average values of the analyzed elements were Cr = 32.90 mg kg−1; Ni = 23.76 mg kg−1; Cu = 31.51 mg kg−1; Zn = 63.69 mg kg−1; As = 19.51 mg kg−1; Cd = 0.50 mg kg−1; and Pb = 17.59 mg kg−1. Anomalously high values of some elements were found Cu = 462.73 mg kg−1, Zn = 364.39 mg kg−1, As = 34.7 mg kg−1 in Talcahuano, Cd = 1.6 mg kg−1 in Tome, and Pb = 55.59 mg kg−1 in Los Ángeles. Nevertheless, according to international guideline values of pollutants (VROM 2000 and ADEC 2010) there is no risk for children in any playground studied but all playgrounds are a potential risk for the environment. It points out the necessity to continue studying and monitoring Chilean urban playground to prevent health problems in the population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Sustentabilidad y Gestión Estratégica de Recursos, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Desarrollo, Avenida Plaza 680, Santiago, Chile

    Delia Rodríguez-Oroz

  2. Carretera Concepción-Talcahuano, Universidad Andres Bello, 7100, Concepción, Chile

    Rodrigo Vidal

  3. Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andres Bello, Quillota 980, Viña del Mar, Chile

    Francisco Fernandoy

  4. Centro de Investigación para la Sustentabilidad, Universidad Andres Bello, República 440, Santiago, Chile

    Francisco Fernandoy

  5. Geography Institute, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Fabrice Lambert

  6. Falculty of Exact Sciences, Department of Physics, Universidad Andres Bello, Republica 220, Santiago, Chile

    Felipe Quiero

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  1. Delia Rodríguez-Oroz
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Rodríguez-Oroz, D., Vidal, R., Fernandoy, F. et al. Metal concentrations and source identification in Chilean public children’s playgrounds. Environ Monit Assess 190, 703 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-7056-x

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