Status, source, human health risk assessment of potential toxic elements (PTEs), and Pb isotope characteristics in urban surface soil, case study: Arak city, Iran

The current study was conducted to assess the level of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, As, Cd, and Ni) in surface soils from Arak city. Arak, which is an industrial city, is a prominent center of chemicals, metal/electric, manufacturing factories, and other industries. Forty-three surface soil samples were collected from 0-20 cm after removing the visible surface contamination in the dry season in June 2017. Metal concentrations were found highly variable, ranging from 174-3950 mg/kg for Cu, 181-3740 mg/kg for Pb, 48-186 mg/kg for Zn, 105-1721 mg/kg for Ni, 0.8-0.9 mg/kg for As, 114-1624 mg/kg for Cr, and 3.45-12.36 mg/kg for Cd. The results of geochemical fraction indicated that the main components of Pb, Cr, and Zn at most of the sampling sites are Fe-Mn bound/reducible. Meanwhile, the residual fraction is the dominant fraction of sequence extraction for Ni, Cu, and Cd. Higher values of reducible bound for Pb, Cr, and Zn, as well as a considerable percentage of Ni, Cu, and Cd, imply that the main source of the studied PTEs (except As) in the study area is both anthropogenic and geogenic inputs. The results of principal component analysis (PCA), correlation analysis, enrichment factor (EF), enrichment index (EI), and top enrichment factor (TEF) confirm that Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Cd, and Zn had a similar anthropogenic source which is confirmed by geochemical fractionation analysis. Carcinogenic risks (CR) of studied PTEs were estimated to be higher than the target limit of 1.0E-06, for adults and children except for Cr with values of 5.91E-04, and 3.81E-04 for children and adults, respectively. Higher CR values of Cr compared to other PTEs in Arak surface soil demonstrate that living target populations, including children and adults, particularly children, are more at risk of carcinogenic risks of PTEs. Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios of the collected samples indicated that Pb in Arak surface sample was derived from industrial inputs and deposition, as well as re-suspension vehicle exhaust emission from previously leaded gasoline. The findings concerning the applied end-member contribution of geogenic and industrial and vehicle emission represented that the contribution could vary from 68.0% to 15% (mean: 39.3) for industrial emission, 65% to 19% for vehicle exhaust (mean: 39), and 46% to 10% (mean: 21.6) for geogenic sources.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the contamination levels of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in surface soils from Arak city, indicating that the main sources of PTEs are anthropogenic and geogenic inputs, particularly from industrial emissions and vehicle exhaust. The findings suggest that residents, especially children, are at risk of carcinogenic effects due to the high levels of PTEs in the soil.