Investigating the concentration of heavy elements in dust and evaluating human health risk (case study: Birjand city, South Khorasan province)

Urban dust is one of the indicators of heavy metal pollution in the living environment. Heavy metals in contaminated soils are considered a challenge to the environment and cause irreparable effects on the bodies of living organisms. Therefore, it is very important to know the pollutants and how they are transported, their performance, and accessibility. Because their effects on the health of humans and other living beings are significant. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of heavy metals (including Pb, Zn, Cr, and As) in the dust of Birjand City on human health. For this purpose, 50 dust samples were collected from Birjand city and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-OES). According to the research results, the average concentration of studied metals was estimated as Pb (16.93), Zn (5.55), Cr (1.04), and As (6.11) µg/m³. Average RI values, Cr and Zn metals have a low ecological risk potential, lead has a medium risk, and As has a high ecological risk potential. The non-carcinogenic risk of heavy metals in Birjand city is without risk. However, the non-carcinogenic risk for two elements, Cr and As, is greater for children than for adults. CR values are higher in children than in adults. This amount is in children for Cr (5.58*10-4), As (5.98 * 10-5), and lead (9.09*10-6) and in adults for Cr (1.18*10-4). and As (1.27*10-5), which is more than 1*10-6. There is a risk of cancer in children under controlled conditions. However, the cancer risk caused by this metal in dust for adults can be ignored.