TITLE:
Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in PM2.5 during Winter in the Suburb of Cangzhou, China
AUTHORS:
Jian Wang, Zhenxia Chen, Yaheng Pang, Yanan Zhao, Yufeng Mao, Na Mao, Mei Xu
KEYWORDS:
Fine Particles, Enrichment Factor, Atmospheric Pollution, Different Pollution Levels
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.8,
August
26,
2022
ABSTRACT: The heavy metals in atmospheric fine particles are of great concern to
human health. To understand the pollution characteristics and health risks of
heavy metals in particulate matter with an
aerodynamic equivalent diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) during winter in the
suburb of Cangzhou, PM2.5 samples were collected with an intelligent
medium-flow atmospheric particulate matter sampler from January to
February 2019. The Fe, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn contents in PM2.5 were
determined via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The sources and health risks of heavy metals in PM2.5 were analysed via the enrichment factor (EF) method and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) health risk assessment
model. The results showed that the average PM2.5 concentration in
the suburb of Cangzhou reached 71.6 μg/m3,
ranging from 23.7 to 169.5 μg/m3. The exceeding standard rate was
29.4% during the sampling period. The PM2.5 concentration during the
nighttime was higher than that during the daytime. The heavy metal
concentrations in PM2.5 decreased in the order of Fe > Mn > Zn
> Cu > Pb, and the Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations decreased in the
order of clean days the daytime. EF
analysis revealed that Zn, Pb and Cu were significantly enriched, and Pb was highly enriched on heavy pollution days
with increasing pollution degree. The
enrichment level of heavy metals during the nighttime was higher than that during the daytime. Health risk
assessment demonstrated that Mn posed non-carcinogenic risks to both adults and
children, following the sequence of clean days . The study revealed that the pollution levels of
heavy metals in PM2.5 in the suburb of Cangzhou were low, and Pb and
Mn in PM2.5 posed certain health risks to the population.