Nursery Schools: Characterization of heavy metal content in indoor dust

Abstract

Interior floor dust is found to be one of the major pathways of childhood exposure to indoor air pollutants. This study aims to carry out a general survey of heavy metals (Al, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni and Pb) contamination at selected nursery school buildings in Shah Alam, Selangor and to study their relationship with the surrounding environment. The samples were collected using a brush and a plastic dust pan, after which the samples were digested using the wet digestion method. The heavy metal concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma -optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The results show that the heavy metal concentrations at nursery school building were in the range 901. 2 -1510.0, 13.3 -76.7, 12.0 -22.6, 22.2 -42.7, 1489.0 -7919.0, 5.5 -14.4, 13.2 -64.6, 93.3 -220.4mg kg -1 for Al, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni and Pb respectively. The heavy metal concentration in the investigated areas followed the order Fe > Al > Zn > Pb > Ba > Cu > Cr > Ni. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to ascertain the possible contributing factors towards the metal concentrations and thereby determine which metals have a common origin. PCA analysis indicated that three factors indicated source of mixed origin including mobile vehicle, street dust and natural sources.

Determination of Some Heavy Metals in Eye Shadows Cosmetics

“…Following such observation, there is an increasing need to investigate the concentration of toxic metals in some commonly used cosmetic products. It is known, for instance, that high doses of heavy metals can be deadly and that even long-term exposure to low levels of heavy metals can cause certain cancers [24]. In this study, the different categories (different price) of eye shadows cosmetic products were tested for the presence of lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.…”

“…Cadmium poisoning symptoms range from the renal and myocardic dysfunction, obstructive lung disease, bone defects [30,31]. The levels of cadmium in the studied samples are higher than allowed and is not safe, according to the Food and Drug of Saudi Arabia (Nill) [32] and studies conducted by Muhamad et al [24], they proved that the levels of cadmium are generally low, being much less than 3 mg/kg. According to Environmental Protection in United States (0.5 mg/kg bw/ day) it was within the allowable limit, hence unlikely to represent a health risk.…”

Assessment of Levels of Heavy Metals in Paints from Interior Walls and Indoor Dust from Residential Houses in Nairobi City County, Kenya

“…Heavy metal pollution in the indoors can be attributed to non-point source pollution as various activities such as vehicular emissions, atmospheric deposition, construction activities and remains, and outdoor contaminated soils. Therefore, the settled indoor dust is a mixture of particulate matter emanating from both exterior and interior sources [16] hence it functions as a reservoir of pollutants [2]. Inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact with the dust are pathways of the heavy metals into the human body making household dust a significant source of heavy metal pollution [17,18].…”

Determination of heavy metals and health risk assessment in indoor dust from different functional areas in Neyshabur, Iran

“…Some of these metals, such as chromium and iron, are essential nutrients of human diets but are toxic in high doses. [12][13][14] Heavy metals in street dust are one of the major pollutants in urban environments, which can be produced by heavy traffic, industry, erosion, wear of buildings, vehicles and vehicle parts, mining activities and fossil fuel combustion. 15 Paint pigments are an important source of heavy metals in indoor dust.…”