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Heavy metals contamination and assessment in gas station dust of Xi’an, a mega-city of China

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Abstract

The dust samples from 30 gas stations located in Xi’an are analyzed for Mn, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn by using atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentration, spatial distribution, source and the contamination levels provide scientific basis for urban planning and environmental renovation in Xi’an. The results indicate that the mean values of Ni, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd in the dust are 1.15, 1.19, 8.13, 3.94, 4.42, 5.09 and 15.62 times higher than the corresponding background values of Shaanxi soil, respectively. The high concentration of heavy metals is located in the inner and second ring road of Xi’an, China. Furthermore, the contents of metals in the south are higher than in the north. In addition, the concentrations of the gas station dust metals in the west are higher than in the east, particularly in the southwest. Three main sources of heavy metals of gas station dusts are identified in Xi’an. Mn and Ni mainly originate from a natural source; Cr, Cu, Pb, Cr and Zn mainly originate from traffic flow; and Co is mainly from industrial sources. The results of the potential ecological risk assessment indicate that the potential ecological risk index (RI) of Co is moderate; Cd is very high ecological risk, and the other analyzed metals belong to low ecological risk. The mean RI value of eight heavy metals in the gas station dusts from Xi’an is considerable ecological risk.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 15YJCZH141), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40801008) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 14SZYB15).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Chang’an Road, Xi’an, 710062, Shaanxi, China

    Xueping Li, Xingmin Shi & Aruna Wang

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA

    Yingru Li

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  1. Xueping Li
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  2. Xingmin Shi
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  3. Aruna Wang
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  4. Yingru Li
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Correspondence to Xingmin Shi or Yingru Li.

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Li, X., Shi, X., Wang, A. et al. Heavy metals contamination and assessment in gas station dust of Xi’an, a mega-city of China. Environ Earth Sci 76, 288 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6582-0

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