JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

High concentrations of heavy metals in street dust are considered to be a serious risk to the human health and the environment. In this study, 30 dust samples were collected from the pavements in the main streets of Abadan to determine the level of pollution of heavy metals in the street dust. Heavy metal concentrations were analyzed by inductively coupled spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method. The level of heavy metals pollution was estimated based on enrichment factor, pollution index and Nemro Integrated Pollution Index. The average concentrations of heavy metals such as Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Ni, V, As and Co were 59.13, 287.50, 112.97, 50.03, 0.52, 56.77, 35.83, 7.10 and 7.53 mg/kg, respectively. Based on the average enrichment factor (EF), Ni, Cu and Pb had high levels of contamination and Zn contamination was high. According to the mean of pollution index (PI), heavy metals of Zn and Pb had a high contamination. According to the Nemro Integrated Pollution Index (NIPI), 96.66% of the samples had a high degree of contamination. The spatial distribution pattern of the heavy metals concentration showed that in the areas with high population densities, high traffic volumes and urban shopping centers, heavy metal pollution was severe.

Heavy metals in street dust, as one of the most important environmental consequences of human activities, have attracted many researchers' attention in recent years due to their toxicity and sustainability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the hazard of heavy metals (lead, zinc, copper, chrome, cadmium, nickel, vanadium, arsenic and cobalt) on human health in street dust in Dezful. To this end, 30 dust samples collected from sidewalks of main streets of Dezful were analyzed by Atomic Absorption (AAS). The level of heavy metals pollution was estimated based on the pollution index and Nemro Integrated Pollution Index. Moreover, the spatial pattern of the concentrations of metals in street dust was prepared in GIS. The average concentrations of heavy metals in Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd, Ni, V, As and Co were 54.2, 223.6, 50.6, 44.4, 0.4, 45.8, 37.8, 3.3 and 7.6 (mg/kg), respectively. The average concentration of all heavy metals except As, V and Co in the samples of dust in the city of Dezful was several times higher than that of the background one. Based on the average EF and PI in the target area, heavy metals of Zn and Pb have high contamination. Based on the evaluation of NIPI, 100% of samples have high degree of contamination. The results showed that the source of pollution of the studied metals such as urban transport and burning of fossil fuels was anthropogenic.

Soil pollution by heavy metals is a serious environmental problem that threatens the human health. The present study was carried out to investigate and detect the contamination of heavy metals of arsenic, copper, lead, zinc and iron due to human and natural activities in the sediment of lake bed and the surface soils of the eastern part of Urmia Province, West Azarbaijan Province. A total of 20 soil samples and surface deposition from the depths of 0 to 30 cm were collected randomly from the studied areas. After preparing the samples, extraction was carried out to determine the concentration of the heavy metals in the soil by using hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, and the total concentration of metals was measured using ICP-OES. The results of the calculation of the contamination factor showed that copper, iron, zinc and lead in the class of low and medium pollution and arsenic in 65.5% of the samples were very high in the class. The high concentrations of copper, lead and zinc contamination in the margin of the city and the contamination of arsenic in the lake bed were observed. The analysis of the contamination factor maps and contamination index with land use and geological map showed that copper, lead and zinc were mostly affected by human activities and arsenic influenced by the maternal materials in the region.