TPH and heavy metal contents of dust fallout: a case study in educational and industrial areas in Kuwait
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ORIGINAL PAPER
TPH and heavy metal contents of dust fallout: a case study in educational and industrial areas in Kuwait Jasem M. Al-Awadhi 1 & Dhary S. AlKandary 1 & Wafa’a A. Al-Taisan 2
Received: 4 August 2015 / Accepted: 7 October 2015 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2015
Abstract Dust fallout in educational and light industrial areas in Kuwait was collected on monthly basis during the period from January to December 2014 at five sites. In addition, 20 dust fallout sediment samples were analyzed for TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon) and heavy metals related to traffic and industrial activities such as As, copper (Cu), Mn, lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). The results of this study reveal that: (1) monthly average dust deposition rates varied from 5.1 in educational areas to 50.6 g/m2 in industrial areas, with average deposition rate of 16 g/m2; (2) the average concentrations for Zn, As, and Pb in the dust samples were up to 8.6, 7.3, and 6.5 times, respectively, higher than soil background values in Kuwait; (3) As, Cu, Pb, and Zn show significant enrichment relative to the upper continental crustal component (Mn); (4) contamination factor analysis for Pb, Zn, and As shows very high contamination level; and (5) TPH was the dominant pollutant in the dust samples. The distribution of the heavy metals in dust fallout and variation in its monthly deposition rates from site to site seem to be attributed mainly to the volume of traffic activities.
Keywords Dust fallout . Heavy metals . TPH . Contamination
* Jasem M. Al-Awadhi [email protected] 1
Faculty of Science, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, 13060 Safat, Kuwait
2
Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Dammam, P.O. Box 1982, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Introduction Dust with different particle sizes is transported during sandstorms due to large area of drought and absence of vegetation cover on the Arabian Peninsula (Al-Dousari and Al-Awadhi 2012). The sources of the dust naturally exist from soil mineral erosion processes or an anthropogenic input due to human activities such as traffic and industrial sources (Adachi and Tainosho 2005). Dust can carry fine divergent types of contaminants and soil minerals with 0.2 m/s wind speed (Al-Dousari and Pye 2005) and deposits in topsoil by sedimentation, impaction, and interception processes (Li et al. 2001). Contaminant exposure such as dust can be ingested, inhaled, or dermal absorbed and lead to serious health problems (Wei et al. 2010) especially the accumulation of potential toxic non-biodegradable metals such as Pb, Cr, Zn, and Cd in the urban environment. Road dust is commonly the main source of airborne settled dust in urban areas which includes vehicle exhaust particles, tire wear particles, and brake lining particles (Ahmed and Ishiga 2006). Furthermore, the use of historical leaded gasoline contributes in the accumulation of lead in dust sampled in urban cities such as Palermo, Italy (Varrica et al. 2003). Kayseri, Turkey (Tokalioglu and Kartal 2006),
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