Concentration of heavy metals in street dust: an implication of using different geochemical background data in estimating the level of heavy metal pollution

Abstract

Geochemical background data are used to distinguish between the sources of heavy metal (natural or anthropogenic) and to categorize the level of heavy metal pollution. In this study, we present the results of using different geochemical backgrounds (BG1–BG3) to establish the level of heavy metal pollution in street dust in Warsaw, Poland. We applied individual and collective indicators calculated with respect to the following backgrounds: (1) upper continental crust (UCC) (BG1), (2) the regional geochemical background established for Quaternary surface deposits of the Mazovian region (Poland) (parent geological material occurring in the studied area, Warsaw, Poland) (BG2), and (3) the minimal values of the concentration of heavy metals determined for the real street dust sample collectives from Warsaw (BG3). The assessment of the heavy metals pollution of street dust significantly depended on the background values used in the calculation of individual and collective indicators. Street dust was classified as unpolluted for almost all the heavy metals based on the values of indicators calculated for UCC data. The effect of traffic-related pollution was detected more precisely based on the values of indicators calculated for BG2 and BG3. The naturally elevated concentrations of heavy metals in UCC data can be responsible for the underestimation of pollution impact in street dust. When relatively low concentration of heavy metals is only observed, the application of BG2 or BG3 background data, which better correspond to the geogenic material in street dust, allows to realistically reflect the level of pollution from moving vehicles. Graphic abstract

Impact of Municipal, Road Traffic, and Natural Sources on PM10: The Hourly Variability at a Rural Site in Poland

“…EF values for these elements changed during the day, with the highest values (higher than the average over the whole measurement period) recorded between 12.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. This may indicate a strong impact of several anthropogenic sources during this time period, e.g., combustion of fuels by vehicles, abrasion of vehicle elements (wheels, brakes) and road surfaces, the influx of contaminated air masses from urbanized areas, and low-stack emissions [47][48][49][50]. An interesting case is that of V and As.…”

A Review of Metal Levels in Urban Dust, Their Methods of Determination, and Risk Assessment

“…The main cause of these variations was the presence of such industries like mining and others near the sampling areas. The presence of heavy metals in urban dust has been studied, and is prominently used as one of the indicators of environmental contamination across the globe [8,12,67]. Most of these studies have linked the presence of heavy metals in urban dust to stationary (power plants, industries, incinerators, and residential heating) and mobile sources (vehicular exhausts and abrasion of vehicle body parts such as tyres).…”

Geochemistry of the Dust Collected by Passive Samplers as a Tool for Search of Pollution Sources: The Case of Klaipėda Port, Lithuania

“…The geoaccumulation index (usual abbreviation Igeo) was introduced by Muller for classification of river sediments according to contamination level [33]. Presently Igeo is widely used by researchers for classification of contamination not only of sediments or soil, but also of dust, e.g., [34][35][36][37] and others. They apply the same rule to distinguish dust contamination level, i.e., seven Igeo-classes earlier used for evaluation of river sediment contamination [38]: 0 (Igeo < 0)-uncontaminated, 1 (Igeo: 0-1)-uncontaminated/moderately contaminated, 2 (Igeo: 1-2)-moderately contaminated, 3 (Igeo: 2-3)-moderately/strongly contaminated, 4 (Igeo: 3-4)-strongly contaminated, 5 (Igeo: 4-5)-strongly/extremely contaminated, 6 (Igeo > 5)-extremely contaminated.…”

“…Presently normalized enrichment factor is widely used and usually entitled "enrichment factor" without the word "normalized" and with abbreviation EF. It was used for dust studies by some researchers, e.g., [36,[40][41][42] and others. Now this index is sometimes used for dust contamination classification, e.g., [43][44][45], to distinguish five so-called contamination classes (SCC): <2-minimal; 2-5-moderate; 5-20-significant; 20-40-very high; >40-extreme.…”

“…The choice of either Cv or Bn can lead to different general formal conclusion about ambient air state. The resulting uncertainty, when the same name is used for indices based on either Cv or Bn is being addressed by a growing number of researchers such as [36,[40][41][42] and others. Therefore, we shall try to compare data classifications according to SCC in discussion, where the effectiveness of search for presumable contamination hotspots and sources will be analyzed.…”