Heavy Metal Contamination and Distribution in the Urban Environment of Guangzhou, SE China

Abstract

Ever-increasing heavy metal accumulation in the urban environment of Guangzhou, the largest light industrial production base and one of the most rapidly developing cities in China, poses a serious threat to environment as well as to human health in the region. As a sink or source, urban deposits are good indicators of the level and extent of heavy metal accumulation in the surface environment. The aim of this preliminary study was to examine the distribution of heavy metal contamination in the urban environment of Guangzhou. It was based on a systematic sampling of road dusts and corresponding gully sediments along major roads running mainly through commercial and residential to industrial districts of the city. In addition to road dusts and gully sediments, ceiling dusts from the Pearl River Tunnel were also collected to characterize anthropogenic emissions dominated by traffic-related activities. In general, the level of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn contaminations were more severe on the industrialized side of Guangzhou than on the western side where heavy traffic and industrial activities were limited. The primary determinants of the level of heavy metal contamination and the distribution of this contamination in the urban environment of Guangzhou were the site-specific conditions of its urban setting, particularly the types of industries, the nature of the traffic flow, sample residence times and variations in grain size of the particulate contaminants. This study highlights the complexity of the urban system and indicates that in just such a system individual urban components should be interlinked to assess the long-term environmental and health effects of heavy metal contamination. Among the heavy metals tested--Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn--the level of Zn contamination was the most severe and widespread, and thus requires immediate attention.

Elemental concentrations in deposited dust on leaves along an urbanization gradient

“…Many studies have focused on the elemental concentration of heavy metals and other contaminants (Al-Khashman, 2004;Apeagyei et al, 2011). Urbanization results in the deposition of pollutants and other toxic substances causing the degradation of environmental conditions (Duzgoren-Aydin et al, 2006).…”

Heavy Metal Contents of Road-Deposited Sediment along the Urban–Rural Gradient around Beijing and its Potential Contribution to Runoff Pollution

“…5,6 Different types of pollution sources produce RDS particles with a range of diameters. 7 Kobringer and Geinopolos (1984) reported that tire wear produces particles with an average diameter of 20 μm. Environmental Science & Technology ARTICLE Habibi (1973) found that 57% of the Pb emitted in vehicle exhaust was associated with particles >9 μm in diameter.…”

Contamination Characteristics and Assessment of Manganese, Zinc, Chrome, Lead, Copper and Nickel in Bus Station Dusts of Xifeng, Northwest China

“…It is a common practice to compare mean concentrations of heavy metals in bus stations dusts in different urban environments (De Miguel et al 1997;Duzgoren-Aydin et al 2006;Lu et al 2009b;Li et al 2012;Xu et al 2015), although there are no universally accepted sampling and analytical procedures for geochemical studies of urban deposits. In table 2, concentrations of heavy metals measured in bus station dusts of Xifeng are compared with data reported for other cities streets dusts (Xu et al 2004;Guo et al 2005;Han et al 2006;Gao et al 2007;Shi et al 2008;Lu et al 2009a;Wei et al 2009;Zhang and Wang 2009;Li et al 2012;Shi et al 2013;Han et al 2014Han et al , 2016Liu et al 2014;Zhao et al 2016).…”

“…In general, each city has its own characteristics combination of elemental compositions, and the observed similarities as well as variations may not reflect actual natural and anthropogenic diversities among the different urban settings. Therefore, there is an immediate need to establish a standard procedure to represent and analyze urban samples (Duzgoren-Aydin et al 2006;Lu et al 2009b;Li et al 2012;Xu et al 2015). Enrichment factors of heavy metals were calculated for each bus station dusts sample relative to the background value of the elements in Chinese soil (CNEMC, 1990), choosing Al as the reference element.…”