Determination of metal accumulation in deposited street dusts in Amman, Jordan

Abstract

Street dust samples (120 in total) were collected under stable weather conditions during the hot, dry season (August and September) of 2004 from six different localities (industrial, heavy traffic, medium traffic, light traffic, low traffic and rural) in greater Amman, the capital of Jordan. The concentrations of Fe, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn and Ni in the dusts were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The high concentrations of Pb, Fe and Zn in the street dust samples were related to both anthropogenic (industrial sources combined with traffic sources) and natural sources. Surprisingly, the concentrations of Cd in the dusts were low. Correlation coefficient analysis and principle component analysis identified three main sources of these elements and the corresponding distributions. The elements Pb, Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu and Ni were mainly derived from industrial sources, with Pb and Zn additionally derived from traffic sources. The street dusts were found to have highly elevated levels of Zn, particularly along the main trunk roads, indicating that the Zn in the street dusts may be derived from traffic sources, especially vehicle tyres. The concentrations of metals in the different street dust samples were found to vary depending on the density of traffic.

Index models to evaluate the potential metal pollution contribution from washoff of road-deposited sediment

“…RDS from impervious surfaces is an important carrier of contaminants, often containing metals at elevated concentrations (Aryal et al, 2009;Xiang et al, 2010). Large amounts of pollutants, such as nutrients, metals, and hydrocarbons, are usually transported in RDS washoff (Sartor and Boyd, 1972;Huber and Dickinson, 1988;Al-Khashman, 2007). Quantifying the relationship between RDS and washoff particles in urban runoff could provide a new method for estimating the pollution load that a waterway receives (Herngren et al, 2005;Zhao et al, 2011).…”

Contamination of barberry with heavy metals in the vicinity of Qayen Cement Company, Khorasan, Iran, in 2014: A Case study

“…In a previous study, the emission of heavy metals into the soil samples from the area surrounding the cement plant in the South of Jordan was demonstrated. The results showed that the mean concentration of Cr and Cd in 0-10 cm was 22.18 and 5 mg/kg, and at a depth of 10-20 cm was 6 and 2.18 mg/kg, respectively (24). Moreover, a research surveyed the pollution of soils by heavy metals in the area surrounding a cement plant and showed that the mean concentration of Cr and Cd was 83.2 and 0.9 mg/kg, respectively (24).…”

Pollution Assessment and Health Risk Implication of Human Exposure to Heavy Metals in Road Dusts from Different Functional Areas in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

“…Metals in road dust result from traffic emissions (exhausts, oil lubricants, vehicle wear, brake lining, corroding building-material asphalts, automobile parts and yellow road paint degradation), industrial emission (smelters, incinerators, foundries and steel plants), as well as dry and wet deposition of atmospheric particulates [3,11,12]. In urban areas, traffic-related metal pollution in road dust is affected by vehicle type, traffic volume and behavior, soil parameters and meteorological conditions [3,12,13].…”