Heavy Metal Pollution in Settled Dust Associated with Different Urban Functional Areas in a Heavily Air-Polluted City in North China

Abstract

Understanding variations of heavy metals in atmospheric particles between different functional areas is significant for pollution control and urban planning in cities. To reveal pollution and spatial distribution of heavy metals in atmospheric particles from different urban functional areas in Shijiazhuang in North China, 43 settled dust samples were collected over the main urban area and heavy metal concentrations were determined in their <63 µm fractions using an ICP-OES. The results suggest that Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and V in the dust are not or slightly enriched and their concentrations vary slightly between different sites, implying their natural origins; whereas Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb are often notably enriched and their concentrations vary significantly between different functional areas, indicating their anthropogenic sources. Integrated pollution indexes (IPIs) of the ten heavy metals are 2.7-13.6 (5.7 ± 2.2), suggesting high or very high pollution levels of most dust. Relatively lower IPIs occur mainly in the administration-education area, the commercial area, and other unclassified sites; while peaks occur mainly in the North Railway Station, the northeastern industrial area, and some sites near heavily trafficked areas, implying the significant influence of intensive industrial (including coal combustion) and traffic activities on atmospheric heavy metal accumulation. These results suggest a clear need of mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution via controlling emissions of toxic metals (especially Cd and Pb) from industrial and traffic sources in the city.

Characteristics and source apportionment of fine haze aerosol in Beijing during the winter of 2013

“…The high concentrations of Cl − and Na + likely originate from dry lake deposits (Abuduwaili et al, 2015), which are spread over the northern area of Beijing. Elevated heavy metals suggest the presence of fugitive dust mixed with industry or traffic emissions (Wan et al, 2016). The high loadings of NO − 3 and NH + 4 in Factor 2 indicate traffic emissions .…”

“…With the increasing PM 2.5 concentration in northern China, winter haze occurrences increased from 3 to 16 days per year during 2000-2012 (Wang and Chen, 2016). The frequency of haze events during winter is enhanced by meteorological conditions; the minimum daily temperatures typically reach −15 to −20 • C (Wu et al, 2012) and the boundary layer height becomes shallow, to less than 100 m .…”

Mercury soil contents and associated ecological and health risks in kindergartens and functional areas of the city of Vanadzor (Armenia)

“…In soil, mercury is most commonly encountered in organic (Hg -C ) and inorganic (Hg 2+ ) forms (Lymberidi 2005;UNEP 2013), the presence of which affects the soil quality characteristics including natural soil profile and soil fertility values (Laker 2005). Since recent years the mercury contamination issue has become increasingly topical in regard to urban soils (Li et al 2010;Szymon Różański 2015;Gray et al 2015;Wan et al 2016;Kumar et al 2017;Moller et al 2018).…”

Impacts of Landscapes on Water Quality in A Typical Headwater Catchment, Southeastern China

“…Our study area is located in an industrialized region, Yangtze River Delta and surrounded by several large cities, including Shanghai, Suzhou, and Nanjing [67,70]. Moreover, during autumn and winter, the strong monsoon can carry the pollution from Northern China, and several recent studies indicated the linkage between industry and heavy metal pollution in water [50,60]. By consulting similar areas, the concentrations of Hg and Pb are close to those in Lita Watershed [61].…”