POTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL AND HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METALS IN PM10 OF ROAD DEPOSITED SEDIMENTS (RDS) IN THE MAJOR INDUSTRIAL AREAS ALONG THE COAST OF SOUTH KOREA

Abstract

Resuspension of road deposited sediments (RDS) is one of the major sources of atmosphericparticulate in industrial area environment. Particle below 10 μm diameter (PM10) in RDS (PM10RDS) can be a reservoir of large amount of hazardouspollutants and resuspension of those PM10RDS can be important carrier of pollutants to nearby estuarine environments with long-ragetransport. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential ecological risk of metals in PM10 RDSin the major industrial areas along the coast of South Korea. PM10 fractions were directly separatedfrom total RDS collected at 165 sampling sites in the 9 large industrial areas nearby estuarine inDecember 2014. The mass concentration of PM10 RDS samples ranged from n.d to 470719(8555±7722) mg/m2. The mean values of heavy metals were 893, 258, 1223, 7501, 194, 29.6, 2539,and 2.39 for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, and Hg, respectively. Cu, Zn and Pb, vehicle-relatedpollutants, showed the highest levels in PM10RDS from Onsan industrial complex. We also testedPM10 RDS ingestion by rotifer Brachionus sp. to study potential risk of PM10 RDS in estuarineenvironment. PM10 RDS were observed in the gut of tested adult Brachionus sp., implying thathazardous heavy metals with high concentrations in PM10 RDS can cause adverse effect toBrachionus sp. and, by extension, the marine environment. Resuspended PM10 RDS can potentiallygive hazarollutants and resuspension of those PM10RDS can be important carrier of pollutants to nearby estuarine environments with long-ragetransport. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential ecological risk of metals in PM10 RDSin the major industrial areas along the coast of South Korea. PM10 fractions were directly separatedfrom total RDS collected at 165 sampling sites in the 9 large industrial areas nearby estuarine inDecember 2014. The mass concentration of PM10 RDS samples ranged from n.d to 470719(8555±7722) mg/m2. The mean values of heavy metals were 893, 258, 1223, 7501, 194, 29.6, 2539,and 2.39 for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Pb, and Hg, respectively. Cu, Zn and Pb, vehicle-relatedpollutants, showed the highest levels in PM10RDS from Onsan industrial complex. We also testedPM10 RDS ingestion by rotifer Brachionus sp. to study potential risk of PM10 RDS in estuarineenvironment. PM10 RDS were observed in the gut of tested adult Brachionus sp., implying thathazardous heavy metals with high concentrations in PM10 RDS can cause adverse effect toBrachionus sp. and, by extension, the marine environment. Resuspended PM10 RDS can potentiallygive hazar