Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution in Floor Dust of Yazd Mechanical Workplaces

Workplaces have increased the risk of environmental pollutions. The aim of this study was to evaluate heavy metal pollution in the floor dust of mechanical workplaces in Yazd city.
This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in 2014. Through stratified random sampling, 30 mechanical workplaces in Yazd, Iran were selected. After sampling, the concentration of heavy metals in samples was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The potential environmental risk index (RI), integrated pollution index (IPI), contamination factor (Cf), the modified degree of Contamination (mCd) and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS v.23 were used for data analyses.
The trend of concentration of heavy metals in the floor dust particles of mechanical workplaces was Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb>Mn>Cr>Cd. Hence, mean concentration of Fe in the samples was 27095 mg kg-1 and that of Cd was 31 mg kg-1. According to Pearson correlation test, Mn had a significant correlation with Cr, Fe, and Cu at the 0.01 significance level. Also, RI showed that Yazd mechanical workplaces have a considerable degree of risk.
The results showed very high levels of pollution by cadmium, lead and copper in mechanical workshops that can be due to the interaction of heavy metals in workplace scraps with dust from man-made origin.