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Heavy metal contamination in dusts and stream sediments in the Taejon area, Korea

1998; Elsevier BV; Volume: 64; Issue: 1-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0375-6742(98)00045-4

1879-1689

Kyoung‐Woong Kim, Jun Ho Myung, Joo Sung Ahn, Heeson Chon,

Environmental and Social Impact Assessments

Associated with the rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization is the increase of automobile emissions, factory emissions, and industrial wastewater. Heavy metal contamination from these point sources has received much attention in the Taejon area, Korea. In order to investigate the degree of heavy metal contamination, 81 road dusts, 79 house dusts, 40 indoor dusts of subway stations and 21 stream sediments have been analyzed for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Copper, Pb and Zn levels in road dusts from the control area are lower than average levels, while those from the traffic and industrialized areas including the city center and highway junctions are relatively high. In particular, the highest Pb concentration in road dust, 161 μg g−1, is noted in dust samples from Yusung Highway Junction. The Pollution Index of multi-element contamination levels in road dust is found to correlate with a calculated Urbanization and Industrialization Index. Elevated levels of Cu, Pb and Zn are also noted in house dusts near the Yusung Highway Junction and industrialized areas. The age of property is found to influence the Pb levels in house dusts, with older houses (>15 years) having significantly higher concentrations than newer properties ( Pb.