Abstract

DIAZ RIZO, Oscar; RIVERO PLAMA, Oreste; D'ALESSANDRO RODRIGUEZ, Katia  and  GARCIA TRAPAGA, César. Spatial distribution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in street dust from Camagüey city (Cuba) using X-ray fluorescence. Nucleus [online]. 2015, n.58, pp.34-38. ISSN 0864-084X.

Concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe in the street dust from Camagüey city were studied by X-ray .uorescence analysis. The mean Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb contents in the urban dust samples (97 ± 30, 14 ± 2, 35 ± 36, 94 ± 26, 199 ± 87 and 42 ± 29 mg.kg-1 dry weight, respectively) were compared with mean concentrations in other cities around the world. Spatial distribution maps indicated the same behaviour for Cr-Ni and Pb-Zn-Cu, respectively, whereas the spatial distribution of Co differs from other heavy metals. The metal-to-iron normalization, using Cuban average metal soil contents as background, showed that street dusts from Camagüey city are moderately or significantly Zn-Pb enriched in those areas associated with heavy traffic density and metallurgic plant location. However, the calculation of the potential ecological risk index shows that metal content in Camagüey street dust does not represent any risk for the city population

Keywords : heavy metals; Cuba; X-ray fluorescence analysis; dusts; pollution; health hazards; roads; spatial distribution; concentration ratio.

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