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The ecological risk, source identification, and pollution assessment of heavy metals in road dust: a case study in Rafsanjan, SE Iran

  • Ecotoxicology in Tropical Regions
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Abstract

Heavy metal (HM) contamination in road dust is a potential environmental and human health threat. The sources, concentrations, spatial distribution, and ecological risk of As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in road dust in Rafsanjan City, Iran, were investigated. Pollution was assessed using the enrichment factor (EF). The potentially harmful effects of HMs were evaluated by calculating the potential ecological risk factor of individual metals (E r ) and of multiple metals (RI) using the Hakanson method. Correlation and principal component analyses (PCA) were applied to identify HM pollution sources. The concentrations of HMs in road dust were higher (ca. 5–10 folds) than their natural background values. The EF and E r increased according to the following order Cu > Pb > As > Zn > Cd > Cr > Ni and Cu > Cd > Pb > As > Ni > Zn > Cr, respectively. Thus, Cu is regarded as the pollutant of highest concern. Based on potential ecological risk index (RI) spatial distribution, all parts of Rafsanjan are characterized by significantly high potential ecological risk. HM concentration heat maps, PCA, and correlation analysis suggest that Cu, Pb, As, Cd, and Zn may have originated from the same source and follow the same spatial distribution pattern. These metals originated mainly from anthropogenic sources like copper mining and smelting plants, industrial and chemical activities, inordinate application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farmlands, and heavy traffic. Ni and Cr are likely to origniate from the industrial activities and traffic load in Rafsanjan City.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the students Meysam Akhoondi and Moein Hassani for their sampling and lab work. We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service, and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled, “Ecological risk, pollution level and source identification of heavy metals in road and street dust: a case study in Rafsanjan, SE Iran”. The authors also express their thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped in improving the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

    Milad Mirzaei Aminiyan

  2. Center for Environmental Nanoscience and Risk, Arnold School of Public Health, University South Carolina, Columbia, USA

    Mohammed Baalousha

  3. Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

    Rouhollah Mousavi

  4. Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Vali-e-Asr Rafsanjan University, Rafsanjan, Iran

    Farzad Mirzaei Aminiyan

  5. Soil Science Department, College of Agriculture, Vali-e-Asr Rafsanjan University, Rafsanjan, Iran

    Hamideh Hosseini & Amin Heydariyan

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  1. Milad Mirzaei Aminiyan
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  2. Mohammed Baalousha
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  3. Rouhollah Mousavi
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  4. Farzad Mirzaei Aminiyan
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Correspondence to Milad Mirzaei Aminiyan.

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Mirzaei Aminiyan, M., Baalousha, M., Mousavi, R. et al. The ecological risk, source identification, and pollution assessment of heavy metals in road dust: a case study in Rafsanjan, SE Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 13382–13395 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8539-y

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