Marín-Sanleandro, P.; Delgado-Iniesta, M.J.; Sáenz-Segovia, A.F.; Sánchez-Navarro, A. Spatial Identification and Hotspots of Ecological Risk from Heavy Metals in Urban Dust in the City of Cartagena, SE Spain. Sustainability2024, 16, 307.
Marín-Sanleandro, P.; Delgado-Iniesta, M.J.; Sáenz-Segovia, A.F.; Sánchez-Navarro, A. Spatial Identification and Hotspots of Ecological Risk from Heavy Metals in Urban Dust in the City of Cartagena, SE Spain. Sustainability 2024, 16, 307.
Marín-Sanleandro, P.; Delgado-Iniesta, M.J.; Sáenz-Segovia, A.F.; Sánchez-Navarro, A. Spatial Identification and Hotspots of Ecological Risk from Heavy Metals in Urban Dust in the City of Cartagena, SE Spain. Sustainability2024, 16, 307.
Marín-Sanleandro, P.; Delgado-Iniesta, M.J.; Sáenz-Segovia, A.F.; Sánchez-Navarro, A. Spatial Identification and Hotspots of Ecological Risk from Heavy Metals in Urban Dust in the City of Cartagena, SE Spain. Sustainability 2024, 16, 307.
Abstract
In the present work, a study has been carried out on the contamination of heavy metals in urban dust deposited on the roads of the city of Cartagena (Spain), in order to know the content of metals such as Ni, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and Cu. Likewise, the possible relationship of the concentration of heavy metals with the color of the sample, level of magnetism and traffic density was studied. Contamination was evaluated using several indices such as contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), geoacumulation index (Igeo), pollutant load index (PLI) and ecological risk index (RI). A total of 88 samples were taken in the urban area of Cartagena, and the metals were determined by acid digestion and measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentration of heavy metals in urban dust from Cartagena was Zn (672 mg/kg) > Cu (248.9 mg/kg) > Pb (227 mg/kg) > Cr (82.7 mg/kg) > Ni (47.7 mg/kg) > Cd (4.1 mg/kg). Contamination levels were high in Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu, according to environmental indices. A correlation was found between magnetism and metal concentration, which was repeated for all metals except Cd. Dark-colored samples contained higher metal concentrations than light-colored samples. Meanwhile, streets with medium and low traffic intensity were found to have higher concentrations of heavy metals. This study's objective was to identify pollution hotspots caused by heavy metals in dust in the urban ecosystem of Cartagena city.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
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