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A global perspective of the current state of heavy metal contamination in road

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Article in Environmental Science and Pollution Research · May 2022

DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-18583-7

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18583-7

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A global perspective of the current state of heavy metal

contamination in road dust
Sayantee Roy1 · Sanjay Kumar Gupta1 · Jai Prakash2 · Gazala Habib1 · Prashant Kumar3,4,5

Received: 29 July 2021 / Accepted: 5 January 2022

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Abstract
Heavy metals are persistent and bio-accumulative, and pose potential risk to human health and ecosystem. We reviewed
the current state of heavy metal contamination, the ecotoxicological and human health risk of heavy metals reported in
urban road dust from various cities in different continents (Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Australia). We compared
and synthesized the findings on the methods related to sample collection, extraction, analytical tools of heavy metals, their
concentrations, level of contamination, ecological risk, non-carcinogenic risk, and carcinogenic risk in road dust. Concentra-
tions of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe were found to be higher than their background values in soil. As expected, the
contamination levels of the heavy metals varied extensively among cities, countries, continents, and periods. A high level of
contamination is observed for Pb and Cd in road dust due to operating leaded gasoline and the old vehicle population. The
highest Zn contamination was observed from road dust in Europe, followed by Asia, Africa, Australia, and America (North
America and South America). Cu contamination and the pollution load index (PLI) is found to be the highest in Europe and
lowest in Africa, with in-between values of PLI in American and African cities. The potential ecological risk on different
continents was observed highest in Asia, followed by Europe, Australia, America, and Africa. A comparative assessment of
non-carcinogenic risk for children indicated that Australia is the most susceptible country due to high heavy metal exposure
in road dust, followed by Asia. However, there is no susceptible risk in European, African, and American cities. We did
not observe any potential risk to adults due to non-carcinogenic metals. Carcinogenic risk to all age groups was within the
threshold limit range for all the regions worldwide.

Keywords Road dust · Heavy metals · Human health risk · Potential ecological risk · Particulate matter pollution · Non-
exhaust emissions

Introduction
Responsible Editor: Gerhard Lammel
Road dust is an accumulation of solid particles on the
* Sanjay Kumar Gupta impermeable road surfaces that contains a diverse range
[email protected] of materials of anthropogenic as well as natural origin
1
Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil (Shi et al. 2010) and serves as an essential aspect to char-
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi, acterize urban environmental condition (Godish 2005; Liu
India et al. 2014; Rahman et al. 2021). The pollutants in the
2
Aerosol and Air Quality Research Laboratory (AAQRL), environment that passage through the various ecological
Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, components from sources to sinks find their major sink
USA in the dust of urban roads. Several studies have identi-
3
Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), fied road dust as a temporary sink of various metals from
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty several sources. Due to its capability to carry a high load
of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey,
Guildford GU2 7XH, UK of innumerable pollutants such as heavy metals, PAHs,
4 and PCBs, it may also serve as a source of these pollut-
Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental
Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland ants which re-suspended in the air under certain dynamic
5 conditions, leading to atmospheric pollution (Amato
School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

et al. 2010; Moreno et al. 2013; Faiz et al. 2009; Lu Heavy metals in urban road dust have been intensively
et al. 2009; Thorpe et al. 2007; Manno et al. 2006; Zhao investigated around the world (Charlesworth et al. 2003;
et al. 2006; Bilos et al. 2001). The composition, quantity, Ordonez et al. 2003; de Miguel et al. 2007; Tanner et al.
and distribution pattern of road dust have been considered 2008; Lu et al. 2009; Fujiwara et al. 2011) for more than a
regulatory factors of urban environmental pollution sta- decade. However, there is a lack of information consolidated
tus (Yongming et al. 2006), and risks to the urban popu- at one place regarding road dust pollution. This becomes
lation’s health. Most of such pollutants in road dust are even more important since studies around the world over
persistent and often resuspend into the urban atmosphere. the years have used different sampling and analytical tech-
The resuspended road dust comprises a significant frac- niques and varied factors and indices to estimate the dust
tion of inhalable particulate matter of aerodynamic diam- pollution load and risk to humans and the environment.
eter ≤ 10 μm ­(PM10). The retention of dust particles in the Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review the global trend
nasal chamber decreases with size. Brown et al. (1950) of road dust pollution. To get a clear picture and base for
have reported retentions of 5–10 μm particles in the nasal comparison, we have considered following a similar set of
chamber. In contrast, retention of particles < 1 μm (­ PM1) estimation methods (the “Global status of road dust pollution
occurs beyond the nasal chamber in the lower respiratory and their sources” section). Therefore, the core objectives
tract, including the trachea-bronchial and alveolar region. of this review are the following: (1) to integrate and sum-
The resuspended particles < 1 μm aerodynamic size com- marize the road dust pollution trend throughout the world,
prise toxic heavy metals, PAHs, PCBs, along with mineral (2) to review the concentration of heavy metal in various
trace elements originating from vehicular exhaust, tire and countries of different continents, (3) to assess the level of
brake abrasion, traffic, industries, solid waste burning, and heavy metal contamination in various regions of the world,
other combustion sources in urban cities (Lu et al. 2009). and (4) to estimate the total potential ecological as well as
According to the Population Reference Bureau (2016), the human health risks likely to be caused by the heavy met-
54% of the world’s population resides in urban regions. As als in various countries. The sample collection and analyti-
this road dust finds its way into the human body through cal tools of heavy metals and their sources from road dust
inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact during daily activi- are also elucidated in this review. It is worth noting that
ties and their prolonged exposure, the health risks due to the the detailed discussion on the analysis of pollution sources
heavy metals present in urban road dust are more likely to and the review of models for the source apportionments are
occur among the urban inhabitants (Vegter 2007), in addi- beyond the scope this work as a number of dedicated reviews
tion to the local ecosystems (Boyd et al. 1999; Li et al. 2001; on the topic are available (e.g. Kumar et al. 2013; Ganguly
Cook et al. 2005). Therefore, a significant area of concern et al. 2020; Hopke et al. 2020; Monticelli et al. 2021; Wang
emerges in the study of road dust pollution. et al. 2021, Galvão et al. 2021; Harrison et al. 2021).
The potential risks due to heavy metals being inhaled
and ingested by the urban population are of immense con-
cern (Chirenje et al. 2006; Inyang and Bae 2006) because Sources of heavy metals in road dust
heavy metals tend to bio-accumulate in the living tissues,
that is, the concentrations of heavy metals within a bio- Heavy metals in urban road dust are released from sev-
logical organism increase over a long time than that in the eral anthropogenic sources such as emissions from traffic
environment (Du et al. 2013). Moreover, most of the heavy (Atiemo et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2012), wearing of tire and
metals are toxic even at very low concentration and are often brake-lining, weathering of pavement and street surfaces
carcinogenic (Dockery and Pope 1996; Willers et al. 2005), (Adachi and Tainosho 2004; Atiemo et al. 2012), abrasion
thereby, can cause damage to the circulatory, nervous, endo- of vehicle or engine parts (Lu et al. 2009), flaking of paints
crine, pulmonary, renal, skeletal, enzymatic, and immune (Radojevic and Bashkin 1999), industrial emissions, power
systems (Zhang et al. 2012; Zukowska and Biziuk 2008). plants, combustion of coal, metallurgical and chemical
On exposure to heavy metals, human systems are subjected manufacturing plants, automobile repair shops, cement and
to oxidative stress due to reactive oxidative species (ROS) asbestos industries (Al-Khashman 2013; Li and Liu 2013;
production induced by metals (Coman and Draghici 2011). Zhang et al. 2012; Hama et al. 2021). Other sources may
Apart from this, the co-exposure of various heavy metals has include domestic house-dusts, weathering of the building,
been reported to produce toxicity, which might be additive, and from activities such as construction, demolition, and
antagonistic, or synergistic (Wang and Bruce 2008; Tchoun- waste incineration (Yang et al. 2015; Hama et al. 2021).
wou et al. 2012). For instance, severe renal dysfunction was While the significant source of zinc (Zn) has been attrib-
observed in a study due to the synergistic effects of arsenic uted to wearing of tire, emissions from brake, motor oil and
(As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb), unlike the effects of each grease (De-Miguel et al. 1990; Akhter and Madany 1993; Li
metal alone (Coman and Draghici 2011). and Shuman 1996; Arslan 2001; Jamil et al. 2009) as well as

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from corrosion of galvanized parts of vehicles (Jiries et al. Such studies have been reviewed but their concentration data
2001), Zn, being an essential trace element, is also present were excluded from ecological and health risk calculations.
in soil (Faiz et al. 2009; Rahman et al. 2021). It will deviate from the focus of the current status of pollu-
Although the most prominent source of the lead (Pb) in tion and risk.
road dust, which was leaded gasoline, has been phased out,
an indirect source of lead contamination has been reported,
particularly in the areas of the highest congestion of traf- Global status of road dust pollution
fic density (Faiz et al. 2009; Khoder et al. 2012). Several and their sources
researchers have also inferred that due to the long half-life
and residence time of lead in the environment, the con- The worldwide concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr,
tamination persists in the urban dust from earlier vehicu- Mn, and Fe in road dust has been widely studied in recent
lar exhaust emissions and historical use of leaded gasoline decades (SI Table S1). The overall metal concentrations
(Banerjee 2003; Li et al. 2004; Saint’Pierre et al. 2004). In were found to be remarkably high in Asia, which varies
addition, the use of Pb as an anti-wear additive for engine with urban development, populations, economic condi-
oils and the subsequent leakage of such lubricants can con- tions, and geographical pattern. These could be associated
tribute to the release of Pb in the road dust (Roy et al. 2019). with road dust pollution. Most of the studies of Asian coun-
Both nickel (Ni) and cadmium (Cd) occur naturally in com- tries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Jordan, and Paki-
bination with other metals in soil (Faiz et al. 2009). The stan have reported road dust pollution and taken initiatives.
presence of cadmium in road dust has been attributed to its Some studies have been reported for Europe, Africa, and
use in vehicle fuel (Charlesworth et al. 2003; Divrikli et al. America, and very few in Australia. Overall, heavy metals
2005). On a local scale, Ni is supposed to be caused by from road dust are not extensive, and metal contamination
emissions from automobile engines where gasoline is used of many commercial and industrial locations in the world
and by the abrasion of vehicles (Al-Shayeb and Seaward are usually omitted. Table 1 summarizes the variation in
2001), waste incineration, and coal combustion in power heavy metal concentrations and their sources were tabulated
plants (Khoder et al. 2012). in SI Table S1. The results observed from each country are
discussed in the subsequent sections.

Sampling approach and method Asian countries

Supplementary Information (SI) Table S1 summarizes the Asia comprises the world’s top two populated countries
sampling approach, collection methods of road dust samples (China and India) in addition to countries like Indonesia,
and different digestion methods, analytical tools, and deter- Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which are also ranked among
mined heavy metals from various regions of the countries. the world’s ten most populated countries (Population Ref-
In general, most of the road dust samples were found to be erence Bureau 2016). Considering the vast area of China,
mainly collected at the roadside of the cities. These were most of the road dust studies were conducted in Chinese
then sieved to obtain size ranges varying from 0.125 to 2 mm cities. Li et al. (2001) identified metals in road dust collected
as a fraction for further analysis. The collection method of from the streets of urban parks in Hong Kong, China. In 45
road dust samples mainly included using a plastic brush and samples, metal concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd were
dustpan. Some studies also used a vacuum cleaner such as analyzed. These heavy metals were originated from vehi-
in Pakistan, France, Manchester, and Australia (Table S1). cle emission, traffic, tire abrasion, and corrosion of metal
Some of the studies collected samples directly from the top- parts (SI Table S1). Road dust collected from Guangzhou,
soil of 10–20 cm depth (Hewitt and Candy 1990; Hjorten- China, was studied by Duzgoren-Aydin et al. (2006), where
krans et al. 2006; Świetlik et al. 2013) for some studies the heavy metal concentration of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Cd, Ni,
in Europe and the United States of America (USA) (SI and Fe was observed to be 240, 586, 176, 23, 2.4, 78.8, 481,
Table S1). Then, the sieved road dust samples were extracted and 44,700 mg ­kg−1, respectively. They confirmed emissions
with a mixed acid, which might be a combination of two or from the vehicle engine, brake lining, coal combustion as the
more of the acids, such as HF, ­HClO4, ­HNO3, ­H2O2, ­H2SO4, primary sources. However, in Shanghai, road dust metals
and boric acid. Finally, the total concentrations of Cd, Cr, mainly originated from the mixing of traffic, vehicle emis-
Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Mn, and Fe were determined by using ICP, sions, brake-dust, and industries, as reported in the study by
ICP-MS, ICP-AES, ICP-OES, CV-AAS, AAS, or XRF. Shi et al. (2008). The samples were collected from roadside
It has been noticed that some of the past studies have (outer-ring highway) in the city Shanghai, China, and metal
reported very high concentrations of metals in road dust, concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr were 249.9, 733.8,
probably due to a lack of awareness and regulatory measures. and 196.8, 83.9, and 159.3 mg ­kg−1, respectively.

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Table 1  Mean concentrations of major heavy metals in road dust of Asian, European, African and American cities (mg ­kg−1) (Based on the data
from peer reviewed literatures)
Cities/Countries Pb Zn Cu Ni Cd Cr Mn Fe References

Asia
Hong Kong, China 181 1450 173 - 3.77 - - - Li et al. (2001)
Guangzhou, Southeast 240 586 176 23 2.41 78.8 481 44,700 Duzgoren-Aydin et al.
China (2006)*
Shanghai, China 249.9 733.8 196.8 83.98 - 159.3 - - Shi et al. (2008)
Baoji, NW China 408.4 715.1 123.17 48.83 - - 804.18 - Lu et al. (2009)
Beijing, China 201.8 219.2 72.13 26 0.64 69.33 - - Du et al (2013)
Liaoning, Northeast 93.6 465.35 68.41 - 0.624 95.98 692 - Yang et al. (2015)
China
Beijing, China 64 207 83 23.9 0.4 100 - - Wei et al. (2015)
Changchun, China 183.9 299.37 36.39 31.25 2.2 141.24 3407.3 - Li et al. (2015)
Changsha City, China 66.6 215 43.9 - 9.11 80.7 - - Li et al. (2016)
Nanjing, China 422.8 226.9 481.9 69 0.99 155.9 - - Liu et al. (2019)
Guangzhou, China 84.1 384 102 23.6 - 64.3 411 21,184 Liang et al. (2019)
Delhi, India 1899 370.5 1016 - 19.35 - - - Banerjee (2003)*
Bhilai, India 534.6 813.2 126.4 45.3 - 121.5 - - Ambade and Litrupa
(2012)
Delhi, India 120.7 284.5 191.7 36.4 2.65 148.8 - - Suryawanshi et al.
(2016)
Delhi, India 164.2 200.7 99.9 24.7 - 57.7 241.4 11,113.9 Roy et al. (2019)
Vellore, India 80.57 633.27 77.87 11.68 - 50.44 281.03 22,059.74 Jose and Srimuruganan-
dam (2020)
Dhaka, Bangladesh 74 154 46 26 - - - - Ahmed and Ishiga
(2006)
Dhaka, Bangladesh 67.6 144.2 98.9 - - 124.7 - - Rakib et al. (2014)
Kathmandu, Nepal 64.55 237.35 - 45.6 19.95 7.85 - - Tamrakar and Shakya
(2011)*
Kathmandu, Nepal 1.92 3.17 5.5 - 2.28 - - - Shakya et al. (2019)
Islamabad, Pakistan 104 116 52 23 5 - - - Faiz et al. (2009)
Amman, Jordan 670.5 188 208.25 65.5 7.15 - - - Al-Khashman (2007)*
Aqaba, Jordan 152.5 131.5 38.5 83 2.4 - - - Al-Khashman (2007)*
Aqaba–Shuna, Jordan 79 79 - 40 5 - - - Howari (2004)
Isfahan, Iran 393.33 707.19 182.26 66.63 - - - - Soltani et al. (2015)
Shiraz, Iran 36.8 160.9 49.81 39.4 0.31 31.6 245 16,300 Keshavarzi et al. (2015)
Istanbul, Turkey 211.88 520.81 208.49 31.52 1.91 - 397.9 - Sezgin et al. (2004)
Sivas, Turkey 197 206 84 68 2.6 - - - Elik (2003)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 70.36 340.85 125.52 39.71 2.24 72.93 514.15 10,199.42 Khoder et al. (2012)
Maha Sarakham 13.12 58.02 13.37 - 0.55 - - - Ma and Singhirunnusorn
Municipality, Thai- (2012)
land
Uslan, Korea 117.55 226.85 135.85 23.2 2.35 - - - Duong and Lee (2011)
Kuala Lumpur, 31.058 73.973 67.325 57.345 0.168 27.07 - - Wahab et al. (2020)
Malaysia
Delhi, India 3.2 ± 1.6 27.2 ± 12.6 9.7 ± 3.7 1.3 ± 0.4 - 5.7 ± 3.9 21.5 ± 6.7 1220.1 ± 361.8 Hama et al. (2021)
Guilin, China 123.8 391.3 149.4 15.2 0.7 123.23 1089.33 19,482 Shahab et al. (2020)
Dhaka, Bangladesh 59.6 189 59.3 - - - - 27,350 Rahman et al. (2021)
Europe
Paris, France 1450 840 1075 25 1.7 50 - - Pagotto et al. (2001)
Aviles, Northern Spain 514 4892 - - 22.3 - - - Ordonez et al. (2003)
Palermo, Italy 544 207 98 14 1.1 - - - Varrica et al. (2003)
Manchester, UK 265 653 113 - - - - - Robertson et al. (2003)

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Table 1  (continued)
Cities/Countries Pb Zn Cu Ni Cd Cr Mn Fe References

Birmingham, UK 48 534 466.9 41.1 1.62 - - - Charlesworth et al.

(2003)
Coventry, UK 47.1 385.7 226.4 129.7 0.9 - - - Charlesworth et al.
(2003)
Sweden 53 220 79 12 0.32 30 - - Hjortenkrans et al.
(2006)*
Kavala, Greece 300.9 270.65 123.9 57.5 0.2 196 - - Christoforidis and
Stamatis (2009)
Oslo, Norway 180 412 123 41 1.4 833 - de Miguel et al. (1997)
Madrid, Spain 1927 476 188 44 - 61 362 - de Miguel et al. (1997)
Edinburgh, Scotland 118 213 57 15 1 16 13,497 Pal et al. (2011)
Poland 44 3092 152 27 - 148 492 18,900 Świetlik et al. (2013)
Thessaloniki, Greece 209 452.8 662.3 89.43 1.76 104.9 336.4 - Bourliva et al. (2018)
Lublin, E Poland 44.1 241.1 81.6 16.5 5.1 86.4 - - Zgłobicki et al. (2018)
Viana do Castelo, 276 2162 1816 110 - 296 1029 - Alves et al. (2020)
Portugal
Africa
Luanda, Angola 351.3 316.6 41.78 - 1.15 25.65 - 11,572 Ferreira-Baptista and De
Miguel (2005)
Cairo, Egypt 126.44 264.05 - 18.65375 0.37975 23.365 - - Abdel-Latif and Saleh
(2012)
Delta region, Egypt 308 1840 102 38.5 2.98 85.7 503 - Khairy et al. (2011)
Bolgatanga, Ghana 5.55 3.385 7.445 2.085 0.1667 6.3075 71.265 191.905 Victoria et al. (2014) *
Accra, Ghana 75.52 217.7225 49.33 11.2925 - 165.7925 311.6925 29,017.63 Atiemo et. al (2012) *
Benin city, Nigeria 189 - 21.525 22.125 5.775 61.52 - - Iwegbue et al. (2012)*
Jalingo, Nigeria 0.009 2.72 1.325 - 0.0022 - - 22.01 Kanu et al. (2015)*
Jos, Nigeria 51.36 85.06 49.94 2.27522 2.156 1.982 1.912 84 Mafuyai et al. (2015)*
Osobo, Nigeria 3.767 9.974 7.567 1.653 0.076 0.003 7.653 - Taiwo et al. (2019)
America
United States of - 240 105 - - 95 456 28,091 Apeagyei et al. (2011)
America
Ottawag, Canada 39.05 112.5 65.84 15.2 0.37 43.3 431.5 18,948 Rasmussen et al. (2001)
Hermosillo, Mexico 36.15 387.98 26.34 4.7 4.24 11.15 - - Meza-Figueroa et al.
(2007)
Colombia, South 467.633 209.733 213.4 22.26667 - - - - Trujillo-González et al.
America (2016)
Ecuador, South 107.5 218 - - 0.3275 - - - Hewitt and Candy
America (1990)
Bogota, Colombia 29.2 152 32.4 8.23 0.25 20.7 - 78.5 Ramírez et al. (2019)
Middleton, OH, USA 59 375 28 50 - 161 - - Dietrich et al. (2018)
Philadelphia, PA USA 202 349 261 - - 82 - - O’Shea et al. (2020)
Houston, TX, USA 40 557 183 119 - 67 - - Fiala and Hwang (2021)
(Asphalt dust)
Houston, TX, USA 95 327 329 160 - 99 - - Fiala and Hwang (2021)
(Concrete dust)
Australia
Iron Cove catchment, 487 523 164 27 - 34 284 28,000 Birch and Scollen (2003)
Sydney Harbour,
Australia
Gold Coast, South- 31.43 199.98 91.53 6.39 0.4 7.82 0.13 5.04 Gunawardana et al
east Queensland, (2012)*
Australia
*
Represents the normalized mean concentration of metals

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Lu et al. (2009) reported heavy metals in road dust that A recent study in Guilin, China, by Shahab et al. (2020)
were collected from heavy and low traffic density areas has indicated high concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd,
in Baoji city, China. The mean values of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and As in urban, industrial as well as tourist areas.
and Mn in street dust were 408.4, 715.1, 123.2, 48.83, However, urban and industrial areas have been identified
804.18 mg ­kg−1, respectively, and these were higher than as hotspots of potentially toxic elements and attributed the
the background values of Chinese soils. While Cu and higher metal concentration in industrial and urban areas to
Zn originated from tire abrasion, corrosion of metallic anthropogenic activities, such as construction, industries,
parts of cars, lubricants, industrial and incinerator emis- traffic, and vehicular emissions. The lowest concentrations
sions, Pb and Mn in road dust of Baoji were mainly due of Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, and As were detected in the tour-
to industrial activities and vehicular emission. Du et al. ist areas. Nevertheless, Pb, Cd, and Al were found at higher
(2013) conducted a study on the concentration of 6 heavy concentrations compared to the urban areas which possibly
metals in different urban parks in Beijing. Metal concen- might be due to weathering process and excessive number of
trations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, and Cr were 201.8, 219.2, heavy vehicles carrying tourists to scenic areas and parking
72.1, 26.0, 0.64, and 69.3 mg ­kg−1, respectively. Authors adjacent to the main roads. The close proximity of the tourist
concluded that road dust in Beijing city mainly originated spots to urban commercial areas was held responsible higher
from tire abrasion, corrosion of metallic parts, industries, concentrations of some heavy metals.
and incinerations. Among the Southeast Asian countries, several studies
The concentrations of heavy metals in different particle were conducted in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
size of road dust were also studied. A study was undertaken For instance, Banerjee (2003) reported heavy metal concen-
in the urban area of Changchun, China, where 232 road trations in road dust samples collected from 500 and 1000 m
dust samples of particle size < 0.8 mm were collected (Yang away from Karnal Bypass Road, Delhi City, India. The road
et al. 2015). The highest road dust pollution was found to be dust was dominated by heavy metals like Pb, Zn, and Cu.
from Mn (692 mg ­kg−1) followed by Zn (465.3 mg ­kg−1), Cr The mean value of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd was 575.4, 370.5, 1016,
(95.9 mg ­kg−1), Pb (93.6 mg ­kg−1), and Cu (68.4 mg ­kg−1), 9.1, and 19.3 mg ­kg−1, respectively. These were reported
respectively. Cr and Mn had the highest share in PCA (prin- to have originated from wear and tear of vulcanized rubber
ciple component analysis) in this study and contributed tires, lubricating oils, and corrosion of galvanized vehicular
about 18.2%. On the other hand, about 14.4, and 9.4% share parts. The distribution of heavy metals in 1-mm size frac-
in road dust from Cu, Pb, and Zn. The primary identified tions of road dust in Bhilai city was studied by Ambade and
sources are traffic, corrosion of copper metal parts, brake Litrupa (2012). The total concentrations of Zn, Mn, and Pb
dust, and tire abrasion. The study of metropolitan Beijing’s in this road dust much exceeded the concern level of soil
road dust showed significant concentrations of heavy metals contamination in Bhilai City and indicated the sources might
in dust particle size of 1 mm (Wei et al. 2015). The mean be automobile exhaust emission and vehicle tire wear con-
concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, and Cr was 64.0, 207, tributed significantly to the accumulation of heavy metals in
83.1, 23.9, 0.40, and 100 mg ­kg−1. Except for Ni, these the road dust from Bhilai plant.
metals exceeded the background value of soil from Bei- Suryawanshi et al. (2016) reported road dust samples
jing and indicated that road dust originated from traffic and from 4 locations—industrial, national highways, residential,
industries. and mixed areas in Delhi city by using a vacuum cleaner in
Li et al. (2015) analyzed 23 points distributed in the main the winter season. The heavy metals of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni,
residential area, which were selected as urban road dust in and Cd were analyzed, where the mean value was 120.7,
Bayan Obo Mining Region in Inner Mongolia, North China, 284.5, 191.7, 36.4, 2.6, and 148.8 mg ­kg−1, respectively. The
for heavy metals. The concentrations of heavy metals varied PCA results identified that the highest contribution (54.2%)
widely in this region and followed the order of Mn > Zn > P was by Ni, Cu, and Cd, followed by 23.9% contribution by
b > Cr > Cu > Ni > Cd. This region showed elevated concen- Zn, Cr, and Pb. This indicated the probable origin of the
trations of heavy metals in comparison with those of Inner heavy metals were industrial, vehicle emissions, and traffic
Mongolia background. Li et al. (2016) conducted an urban activities. The vehicular emissions could be attributed to
road dust sample from the trunk road of Xiandao District, brake pads and wear and tear of tires.
Changsha City, China. A total of 51 samples were collected A district-wise evaluation of heavy metal contamination
from 17 sampling sites (3 samples for each site) and ana- in NCT of Delhi was conducted (Roy et al. 2019), which
lyzed for heavy metals of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Ni. The indi- indicated a high level of Pb and Zn in the city. PCA analysis
vidual metal concentration of Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Cr was in the study suggested Zn, Mn, Cr, and Ni loading in the road
66.6, 43.9, 215, 9.1, and 80.7 mg ­kg−1, respectively. They dust has its origin majorly from tire/brake wear and vehicle
were high compared to their corresponding background val- engine abrasion. The significant concentration of Pb in the
ues in Hunan Province soils. city, despite the use of unleaded fuels, indicated that sources

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

like leakage of engine lubricants have noticeable Pb input The concentration ranges were found to be 197–211.9,
in the road dust. Cu loading was attributed to non-combus- 206–520.8, 84–208.5, 68–31.5, and 1.9–2.6 mg ­kg−1 for Pb,
tion sources like corrosion of mechanical parts and brake Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cd, respectively. Both studies concluded that
pads and traffic emissions. Two studies (Ahmed and Ishiga road dust sources are vehicle emission, solid and liquid fuel,
2006; Rakib et al. 2014) were conducted for heavy metals traffic, and industries.
from road dust in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, Road dust from an industrial area of Jeddah city, Saudi
heavy metal concentration ranges were found to be 67.6–74, Arabia, was analyzed by Khoder et al. (2012). In this study,
144.2–154, and 46–98.9 mg ­kg−1 of Pb, Zn, and Cu, respec- the toxicity and the sources of heavy metals were studied.
tively, while Ni and Cr were 26 and 124.7 mg ­kg−1 observed The concentrations in road dust varied with region, depend-
from Ahmed and Ishiga (2006) and Rakib et al. (2014). Both ing on the type of traffic and industrial activities. Combus-
studies concluded that significant road dust sources were tion of gasoline, corrosion of metallic parts, traffic, and
vehicular emission, leaded gasoline, brake and tire wear, and industries were identified as metals’ origins in road dust.
industries. Later, Tamrakar et al. (2011) analyzed 20 major Road dust conditions under different land use are studied
street dust samples collected from Kathmandu, Nepal, and in Kathmandu, Nepal, by Shakya et al. (2019). The study
found elevated concentrations of heavy metals in them. Traf- revealed higher Zn and Cu concentrations in the industrial
fic and vehicle-related activities and industrial sources were areas and higher Pb and Cd concentrations in high traffic
the most likely anthropogenic sources of these metals. Ear- density areas. The potential sources of heavy metals in
lier, Faiz et al. (2009) investigated heavy metals in road dust Kathmandu’s street dust are traffic emissions, automobiles,
in Islamabad Expressway, Pakistan. The average concentra- construction, and demolition activities. A recent study in
tion values of the metals Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were found Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, which included 72 road dust
to be 5 ± 1, 52 ± 18, 23 ± 6, 104 ± 29, and 116 ± 35 mg ­kg−1, samples from four streets with distinct land uses, showed a
respectively, which were generally higher than the back- high concentration of Zn in three of the sites and Cu in the
ground values of soil. The inter-elemental correlation was other (Wahab et al. 2020). The bitumen road surfaces are
examined and recommended that vehicle emissions, traffic, considered the probable contributor to elevated Zn concen-
and fossil fuel were the primary sources. tration in the streets.
Recently, Hama et al. (2021) have identified dominance of Among the Asian countries, concentration ranges of the
crustal elements such as Si, Ca, Al, K, Fe, Ti, and Mg in the metals from urban road dust were observed to be 1.92–670.5,
road dust of Delhi. The study has also reported high levels 3.17–1450.0, 5.5–1016.0, 23.0–84.0, 0.17–20.0, 7.9–159.3,
of water-soluble ion concentration, especially S ­ O42− in the 398.0–3407.3, and 10,199–44700 mg ­kg−1of Pb, Zn, Cu,
road dust samples. A probable association with the chemical Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively (Table 2). The highest
reactions of secondary aerosols with crustal elements could concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cd, and Cr were observed in India;
have been a crucial factor in this regard. these were 2 to 4 times higher than the mean value reported
A number of studies had also been carried out in the for China. In India, exceptionally higher levels of Pb were
Middle-east countries like Jordan, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi observed in a 2003 study, which might be because of the use
Arabia. Al-Khashman (2007) has studied heavy metal con- of leaded fuels at the time. Interestingly, the mean concentra-
centrations of road dust in two of the most populated cities tion of Zn and Ni in India was very close to the mean value
(Amman and Aqaba) of Jordan. Another similar study was reported for China. In the rest of the Asian countries, the
conducted by Howari et al. (2004) in Aqaba–Shuna city of mean concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Cr was observed
Jordan. In Jordan, heavy metal concentration ranges from considerably lower than India’s mean value. The highest
79–670.5, 79–188, 38.5–208.2, 40–83, and 5.0–7.1 mg ­kg−1 mean concentrations of Mn and Fe were found in China,
of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cd, respectively. The concentration while the lowest Mn and Fe concentrations were in Saudi
of heavy metals was observed to be high in Amman city Arabia and Turkey. Mn and Fe concentrations were not
(capital of Jordan) compared to the other cities of Jordan due reported in any study of India. A further region-wise evalu-
to old vehicle populations operated on leaded gasoline. In ation was done to get keener insights into the heavy metal
all three studies, the sources (vehicle, traffic, tire and brake contamination status in Asia. Evaluated mean concentrations
wear, leaded gasoline, and coal combustion) of road dust of heavy metals in Chinese cities indicate that the Pb, Cu,
were observed to be similar. Soltani et al. (2015) investigated and Ni concentrations are 89 to 95% of Asian countries’
metals in road dust in the Isfahan metropolis in central Iran. mean concentration, and Zn, Cr, Mn, and Fe concentrations
The mean value of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ni was 393.3, 707.2 exceed the average metal concentration of the continent.
182.3, and 66.6 mg ­kg−1, respectively. These metals were This clearly shows that heavy metals in Chinese cities’ road
mainly derived from vehicle emission and tire and brake dust contribute majorly to the pollution load of Asia. Simi-
wear. Heavy metals in road dust were assessed for Istanbul larly, metal contamination status in road dust has been evalu-
and Sivas city of Turkey (Sezgin et al. 2004; Elik 2003). ated for South-Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan,

13

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Nepal), Middle-east Asia, and Southeast Asia. The average

199. 98
91.53
31.43
contribution of South-Asian countries to the mean ranges

0.13
5.04
7.82
6.39
Min

0.4
from 33 to 70% for heavy metals except for Zn, which has
80% of the mean. Additionally, the mean Cd concentration

28,000
Max
in the region is significantly higher than the Asian average.

284
164
523
487

0.4
34
27
Australia (n = 3)
In Middle-east Asia, Ni has been found to have exceeded
the Asian average. Other heavy metal concentrations have

23,005.147
142.065
27.273
2.050
29.230
142.610
469.327
196.477
contributed to the mean significantly. Only two studies have
Mean

been conducted among Southeast Asian countries in Malay-

sia and Thailand. Although a detailed conclusion could not
be drawn, Ni concentration in Malaysia has been found to

18,948
112.50

431.5
11.15
26.34
36.15

0.33
Min

be higher than the Asian average, whereas all other metals

4.7

contributed only 10 to 30% to the continental mean.

28,091
387.98
467.63

22.27
213.4
America (n = 10)
Max

4.24

456

European countries
95 42.538
1.297
12.599
88.596
220.036
135.907

322.00
23,519.5

The concern about road dust pollution in Europe came up in

Mean

the late 1990s. Studies in various European cities have been

done over the years which showed a varied concentration
0.0022

of individual heavy metals in different cities, owing to the

0.009

1.91
22.01
1.98
2.16
1.33
2.72
Min

difference in population density, traffic density and move-

ments, industrial establishments, wind speed, and directions
(Charlesworth et al. 2003; Ordonez et al. 2003; Świetlik
29,017.63
165.79
351.30

et al. 2013).
5.775
38.50
1840
Max

503
102

Pagotto et al. (2001) reported heavy metal concentrations

Africa (n = 9)

of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Cd from the major French high-
179.105
8177.509
46.290
1.586
13.798
35.114
342.439
123.438

way in Paris, France. The mean value of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni,
Mean

Cr, and Cd was 1450, 840, 1075, 25, 1.7, and 50 mg ­kg−1,
respectively, and they are mainly derived from vehicular
emissions brake lining and leaded fuel due to old vehicle
336.40
13,497
0.20

population. Other than traffic emissions, heavy metal emis-

Min

207

16
12
57
44
Table 2  Descriptive statistics of the studied metals in different regions (mg k­ g−1)

sions were also confirmed to be from the metallurgical

industry in the study of road dust collected from Aviles,
18,900
129.7
1075
4892
1927
Max

22.3

833
196

Northern Spain, by Ordonez et al. (2003). The heavy metal

Europe (n = 15)

concentration of Pb, Cu, and Cd was observed to be 514,

96.883
3.811
44.692
198.827

206.01
1014.70

4892, and 22.3 mg ­kg−1.

16,198.5
414.2
Mean

Varrica et al. (2003) collected samples from roadway dust

in Palermo’s urban area, Italy, and metal concentrations of
Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr were found to be 544 207, 98, 14, and
10,199.42

n represents the number of studies in each continent

1.1 mg ­kg−1, respectively. Thus, road dust metals in Palermo

397.9
0.168
7.85
3.17
1.92
Min

mainly came from the mixing of vehicular emissions and

5.5
23

leaded gasoline.
3407.30

Heavy metals in road dust were analyzed by Charles-

74,300
159.30
19.95
83.98
670.5

1016
1450
Max

worth et al. (2003) and Robertson et al. (2003) for three

cities of the UK—Manchester, Birmingham, and Coventry.
Asia (n = 35)

In the UK, heavy metal concentration ranges were 47.1–265,

20,926.177
747.496
88.230
4.089
42.262
146.145
348.491
227.511

385–653, 113–466, 41.1–129.7, and 0.9–1.6 mg ­kg−1 of Pb,

Mean

Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cd, respectively. The sources mainly origi-
nated from tire wear, brake lining, corrosion of metal parts,
traffic, and vehicular emission.
Heavy metals

Hjortenkrans et al. (2006) analyzed 148 topsoil samples

from 18 south roads in Sweden. The mean values of Pb,
Mn

Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr in dust were 53, 220, 79, 12, 0.32, and
Cd
Cu
Zn
Pb

Fe
Cr
Ni

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

30 mg ­kg−1, respectively, and these were higher than eight- trace metals like Sb, Sn, Cu, Bi, and Z from tire and brake
fold in road dust compared to the background values. These wear was also reported.
contaminants were derived from tire abrasion, brake lining, Among the European countries, concentration ranges
and vehicular emission. of heavy metals were observed to be 44.0–1927.0,
Christoforidis and Stamatis (2009) conducted a study on 207.0–4892.0, 57–1075.0, 12.0–129.7, 0.2–22.3,
the concentration of 6 heavy metals in three different locali- 16.0–196.0, 336.4–833.0, and 13,497–18,900 mg ­kg−1of
ties (urban, industrial, and peripheral) of the city of Kavala, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively (Table 2).
Greece, and analyzed metals. The average value of Pb, Zn, The highest concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd and Cr were
Cu, Ni, Cd, and Cr was found to be 301, 271, 124, 57.5, 0.2, observed in Spain, while Cu in France, Ni in the United
and 196 mg ­kg−1, respectively. The authors concluded that Kingdom (UK), Cr in Greece, Mn in Norway, and Fe in
road dust in Kavala city mainly originated from tire abra- Poland. It has also been noted that old studies (de Miguel
sion, corrosion of metallic parts, industries, and incinera- et al. 1997; Pagotto et al. 2001; Ordonez et al. 2003) showed
tions. Another study was undertaken in two widely differ- a high Pb concentration level. Interestingly, with the switch-
ent cities, Madrid (Spain) and Oslo (Norway), where road ing to the use of unleaded gasoline, recent studies (Pal
dust samples were collected of particle size of 100 µm (de et al. 2011; Świetlik et al. 2013; Bourliva et al. 2018) were
Miguel et al. 1997). The heavy metal concentration ranges observed to have less level of Pb.
were found to be 180–1927, 412–476, 123–188, 41–44,
and 362–833 mg ­kg−1 of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, and Mn, respec- African countries
tively. Pb and Ti had the highest share in PCA analysis in
this study and contributed about 29.2%. On the other hand, Vehicular traffic, industrial emissions, and incomplete com-
about 29.1% share in road dust was from Mn + Fe, emitted bustion of open waste were found to be the primary sources
mainly from traffic, corrosion of metal parts, and brake dust. of road dust metals in Luanda, Angola (Ferreira-Baptista
Heavy metals from road dust of 1-mm particle size were and De Miguel 2005). The mean concentration of Pb, Zn,
analyzed for metropolitan Edinburgh, Scotland (Pal et al. Cu, Cd, Cr, and Fe was 351.3, 316.6, 41.8, 1.1, 25.6, and
2011). The mean concentration of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, 11572 mg ­kg−1, respectively.
and Fe was 118, 213, 57, 15, 1.0, 16, and 13,497 mg ­kg−1. Two studies were conducted in Egypt by Abdel-Latif and
These metals originated from additive fuel, vehicle emis- Saleh (2012) and Khairy et al. (2011) and revealed higher
sions, and road traffic. levels of heavy metals in the roadside. A higher metal con-
Świetlik et al. (2013) selected an immediate traffic density centration has been reported to be observed in a fine fraction
area to analyze urban road dust in Poland for heavy metals. of < 125 µm than those in the coarse fraction. Therefore,
The concentrations of heavy metals varied widely in this along with anthropogenic activities, it is inferred that size
region and followed the order of Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cr > fraction also controls metal concentrations in road dust. The
Pb > Ni, and they showed elevated concentrations in com- sources were derived from brake lining, traffic, tire wear, and
parison to the background values. The sources were mainly industries in the cities of Egypt.
traffic, brake abrasion, tire wear, corrosion of metal parts, In road dust of Accra, Ghana, the mean concentrations
and fuel combustion. of Cr, Zn, and Pb were found to be elevated than the back-
Another study was undertaken in Greece, where 30 road ground values in some instances, and various indices study
dust samples were collected of particle size of < 63 µm suggested anthropogenic influence to the pollutant load
(Bourliva et al. 2018). The mean concentrations of Pb, Zn, (Atiemo et al. 2012). On the contrary, the road dust sam-
Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, and Mn road dust were 209, 453, 662.3, 89.4, ples monitored in Bolgatanga Metropolis of Ghana analyzed
1.76, 104.9, and 336.4 mg ­kg−1, respectively. Analysis of lower mean concentrations of Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, Pb, Ni,
spatial distribution has shown that the hotspot areas were and Cd than the background values. Nevertheless, correla-
associated with the major road having high traffic density. tion analysis indicated a strong correlation between some
Cr, Cu, and Zn showed the highest contribution in PCA anal- metals signifying the common source of anthropogenic pol-
ysis, and their share was about 37.6%, followed by Cd and lution such as tire and brake wear, corrosion of metal parts,
Mn (24.7%) and Pb (15.7%). The source of Cr, Cu, Zn may traffic and vehicle emissions (Victoria et al. 2014).
be tire and brake wear and vehicle abrasion, fuel/oil leakage Three studies were conducted by Iwegbue et al. (2012),
from automobiles, and oil lubricants. Kanu et al. (2015), and Mafuyai et al. (2015) in Nigeria to
Alves et al. (2020) have reported the loadings and chemi- analyze heavy metals from road dust in the city of Benin,
cal patterns of inhalable road dust particles were investigated Jalingo, and Jos in Nigeria. In Nigeria, heavy metal concen-
in Viana do Castelo, a Southern European city. The study tration ranges were found to be 0.0–189, 2.7–85.1, 1.3–49.9,
showed Si, Al, Fe, Ca, and K to be the most abundant ele- 2.3–22.1, 2.1–5.7, 1.9–61.5 mg ­kg−1 of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd,
ments in the city. However, high contamination by certain and Cr, respectively. The heavy metals mainly originated

13

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

from tire wear, brake lining, corrosion of metal parts, traffic content was established to exceed background values.
and vehicular emission, and fuel additive. Among American countries, heavy metal concentra-
A recent study in 2019 (Taiwo et al. 2019) has reported tion ranges were found to be 36.2–476.6, 112.5–388.0,
97% of the contribution to the total pollution level were by 26.3–213.4, 4.7–22.3, 0.3–4.2, 11.2–95.0, 431.5–456.0,
Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the road dust of Osobo metropolis, and 18,948–28,091 mg ­kg−1 of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn,
southwestern Nigeria. All the heavy metals in the road dust and Fe, respectively (Table 2). The highest concentrations
were found to exceed the concentrations in control soil of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ni were observed in South America,
samples. while Cd in Mexico. The highest concentrations of Cr, Mn,
Among Africa, concentration ranges of heavy metals were and Fe were observed in the United States of America.
observed to be 0.1–351.3, 2.7–1840.0, 1.3–102.0, 2.16–38.5,
0.0–5.7, 1.9–165.8, 1.9–503.0, and 22.0–29,017 mg ­kg−1of
Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively (Table 2). Australia
The highest Pb concentration was observed in Angola, while
the highest concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cr, and Mn were Very few studies have been conducted in Australian con-
observed in Egypt. tinent. Three roads, namely, Parramatta Road, Marion
Street, and National Street, with different traffic volumes
American countries in the Iron Cove catchment of Sydney Harbour, have been
studied by Birch and Scollen (2003) to evaluate the accu-
The evaluation of road dust in three different cities (Bos- mulations rates and the relation of concentrations of met-
ton, Somerville, and Greenfield) in Massachusetts, USA, als with traffic volume. In another study done in the South-
showed an elevated concentration of Zn, Cu, which was east Queensland of Australia, Gunawardana et al. (2012)
expected to link heavy traffic and functional road classes. have reported a high level of heavy metals of Zn, Cu, Pb,
The urban-to-rural ratios of road dust for the metals were Ni, Cr, Cd, which indicated that road dust has originated
Zn (3.7), Ti (1.4), Zr (1.5), Cu (3.1), K (2.1), and Ca (2.2), from brake and tire wear and traffic sources.
which indicated the implication of roadway emissions to A recent comparison between road dust and roadside
total metal concentrations. However, the dominating sources soil in Suva city, Fiji (Maeaba et al. 2019), has clearly
may change with time and locations (Apeagyei et al. 2011). indicated that most heavy metal pollution in the city was
The sources were identified as tire wear, brake lining, cor- due to road dust. One industrial site (Walu Bay) in the city
rosion of metal parts, and traffic. also showed significantly high levels of all the studied met-
Rasmussen et al. (2001) collected road dust samples at als. Overall, heavy metal concentration ranges were found
ten different zones of Ottawa, Canada, to evaluate variations to be 31.4–487.0, 200.0–523.0, 91.5–164.0, 6.3–27.0,
in heavy metal concentrations. The mean concentration of 0.0–0.4, 7.8–34.0, 0.1–284.0, and 5.0–28,000 mg ­kg−1 of
heavy metals was observed to be 39, 112.5, 65.8, 15.2, 0.4, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Mn, and Fe, respectively (Table 2).
43.3, 431.5, and 18,498 mg ­kg−1of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, The highest concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Mn, and
Mn, and Fe, respectively (Table 2). The result suggested Fe were observed in Harbour, Australia.
that sources of metals may be vehicular emission, traffic,
and tire wear.
The distribution of heavy metals in the Hermosillo city
was reported to be governed by the location of pollution Contamination and ecological risk
sites, the city’s geography, which includes La Flojera and assessment
Cemetery Hills, and wind pattern (Meza-Figueroa et al.
2007). The sector-wise evaluation suggested high concen- The assessment of the level of contamination and the
trations of heavy metals in the commercial sector with prediction of risk likely to arise in the vulnerable envi-
dominant auto-repair activities. Besides, the regulation ronment have been considered because of the potential
regarding waste management was accounted to be barely of heavy metals in road dust to accumulate in different
implemented (Trujillo-González et al. 2016). Hewitt and environmental components. Thereby, several indices have
Candy (1990) studied the status of road dust in Ecuador been measured in order to determine heavy metal con-
of South America, where the presence of heavy metals tamination. Based on the available peer-reviewed litera-
in the urban road dust was dominant, although an ele- ture, the level of pollution (contamination factor, degree
vated concentration of Pb was observed in the suburban of contamination, and pollution load index) and effects on
region. This was supposed to be influenced by mine tail- the ecosystem (ecological risk, and potential ecological
ings and metal-containing ores. In the recent investiga- risk) of heavy metals to each continent were assessed and
tion in Villavicencio, Colombia, heavy metal road dust shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively.

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 1  Box-plot of contamina-

tion factors, degree of contami-
nation (Cdeg), and pollution load
index (PLI) for heavy metals
in road dust over the World.
Dotted blue denotes level of
Cdeg < 5, 5–10, 10–15, 15–20,
and > 20. Dotted green line
is the base line of pollution
level index (PLI). n represents
the number of studies in each
continent

Contamination factor and contamination degree Ci f = Ci ∕Ci n (1)

Hakanson (1980) suggested four classes of contamination where Ci is the mean content of heavy metal, i in the sam-
factor (Cif) and contamination degree (Cdeg,) to evaluate the ple, and Cin is the concentration of a reference value for
metal contamination levels. The contamination factor Cif is the individual metal. In this study, the Cin values will be
defined as (Hakanson 1980): representing the background concentrations of the metals

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fig. 2  Box-plot of ecological

risk and potential ecological
risk (PER) for heavy metals
in road dust over the World.
Dotted blue denotes level of
PER = 320 line of high PER. n
represents the number of studies
in each continent

in the soil. This study represents a comprehensive evalua- by Turekian and Wedepohl (1961), are considered the
tion on a global scale, and the background concentration is background concentration. The metal contamination lev-
not available for each studied city. Therefore, according to els (Loska et al. 2004) are to be classified as follows: low
most researchers, the world’s average shale values, or the (Cif < 1), moderate (1 ≤ Cif < 3), considerable (3 ≤ Cif < 6),
continental crustal average for heavy metals, as accounted and very high (6 ≤ Cif) contamination levels.

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

The degree of contamination (Cdeg) is the sum of con- Based on the available data from the reviewed literature,
tamination factors for all of the elements. The degree of con- these indices are computed to appraise the overall contami-
tamination by all the studied heavy metals in road dust from nation of heavy metals present in road dust of different parts
the study areas was determined as follows (Hakanson 1980): of the world. The collective evaluation of the contamination
∑ factor and C­ deg, and PLI of heavy metals from road dust over
Cdeg = Ci f (2) the world (Fig. 1). From the published data for the cities
of different countries, it has been accounted that the mean
The four categories of Cdeg are used to evaluate metal value of Cdeg was very high (Cdeg > 20) for the regions of
contamination levels as follows: low (Cdeg < 5), moderate Europe, followed by Asia and a considerable level of Cdeg
(5 ≤ Cdeg < 10), considerable (10 ≤ Cdeg < 20), and very high (10 < Cdeg < 20) for Africa, America, and Australia. A large
(20 ≤ Cdeg) degree of contamination (Duong and Lee 2011). city-to-city variation has been observed for Africa, America,
If the Cdeg values exceeded 20, then it was necessary to take and Australia, which signifies that some of the cities in these
immediate countermeasures to reduce heavy metal contami- continents are sparsely contaminated, while some are highly
nation in the road dust (Abdel-Latif and Saleh 2012). contaminated. However, in the case of European cities, the
variation is toward the higher side. A significantly very high
Pollution load index contamination level is observed for Pb in road dust of all
the regions. In contrast, a low level of Ni, Cr, Mn, and Fe
The road dust was assessed for the extent of metal pollution contamination has been identified. The contamination levels
by employing the method based on the pollution load index of Cr and Mn in road dust are ranging from low to moder-
(PLI) developed by (Thomilson et al. 1980) is as follows: ate, which is relatively more in Asian cities than in the rest
)1∕n of the world. Zn was observed to have a very high level of
PLI Ci f 1 × Ci f 2 × Ci f 3 × … Ci fn (3)
(
contamination in European cities. A considerable level was
found for Asian, African and Australian cities, and moder-
where n is the number of metals studied, and Cif is the con- ate contamination in America’s cities. Cu contamination is
tamination factor calculated as described in Eq. (1). The found to be the highest in Europe and the lowest in Africa.
PLI provides simple but comparative means for assessing a Almost similar to Pb, a very high Cd contamination level is
site quality, where a value of PLI < 1 indicates perfection; observed for road dust in cities of Asia, Europe, and Africa,
PLI = 1 presents that only baseline levels of pollutants are while it is considerable and moderate for Americans and
present, and PLI > 1 would show deterioration in the quality Australians, respectively. The large variations in contami-
of the site (Thomilson et al. 1980). nation levels of major heavy metals like Pb, Zn, Cu, and
Cd, as a result of higher pollution load in the past decades
Potential ecological risk and significantly lower pollution levels in recent times, in
the European and Asian cities indicate a positive change
The potential ecological risk (PER) of the heavy metals toward mitigation measures being implemented. Similarly,
is quantitatively evaluated by the potential ecological risk the shift from usage of leaded to lead-free gasoline has sig-
index (Er) (Hakanson 1980; Zhu et al. 2008), which takes nificantly resulted a wide variation in Pb contamination in
into account both contamination factor (Cif), and the “toxic- all the regions. Similarly, PLI is also very high (PLI > 1) in
response” factor. The potential risk index can be acquired the case of Asia and Europe, whereas a slightly high load
as follows: of pollution (c < 1) is observed for American cities (Fig. 1).
The urban areas studied in Africa and Australia showed a
Er = Tr × Ci f (4) low pollution load in the road dust of the regions.
A box-plot of ecological risk and PER for heavy metals
in road dust over the world is shown in Fig. 2. Due to Cd in
∑
PER = Er (5)
road dust, the ecological risk is the most among all the met-
where Er and PER denote the potential ecological risk factor als studied, showing a very high risk for Asian and African
of individual and multiple metals, respectively. Tr denotes cities, followed by Europe likely to pose a high ecological
the “toxic-response” factor for heavy metals. The Tr values risk. The lowest level of ecological risk is observed in the
of Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Mn are 30, 2, 3, 5, 1, 5, and 1, cities of America and Australia. However, ecological risk
respectively (Xu et al. 2008; Hakanson 1980). owing to Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, and Mn is low in all the regions.
The degree of ecological risk can be categorized as Pb is detected to pose a low to considerable ecological risk,
follows: Eri < 40: low risk, 40 ≤ Er i < 80: moderate risk, and the lowest ecological risk was found in Africa and rela-
80 ≤ Eri < 160: considerable risk, 160 ≤ Eri < 320: high risk, tively significant in European cities (Fig. 2). Despite the
and Eri ≥ 320: very high risk (Islam et al. 2015). overall very low mean concentration of Cd, a considerable to

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

moderate ecological risk is observed, which may be attribut- amount of road dust has been produced in urban areas, which
able to the high toxicity of Cd. Studies in some Chinese and makes road dust a large source of particulate pollution, eas-
Indian cities like Beijing, Guilin, Delhi, and other cities have ily inhaled by the exposed human beings while travelling
also reported major toxicity by Cd in the road dusts (Shahab by cars or walking along sidewalks. The heavy metals in
et al. 2020; Du et al. 2013; Suryawanshi et al. 2016). Road the road dust may be ingested through roadside fast-foods
dusts from industrial areas were identified to be majorly con- or through the food chain while consuming contaminated
taminated with Cd in the studies. The PER, which represents fruits, vegetables, etc. (Kim et al. 2016; Otitoju et al. 2012).
the cumulative ecological risk, has been observed to be the Several studies have found that children are more suscep-
highest for Asian cities, followed by European and African tible to these contaminants since they are more likely to
cities. All these three regions have been observed to cross ingest a considerable amount of dust through finger-suck-
the line of high PER. The PER has been observed to be the ing and mouthing non-food objects (Bargagli 1998; Mielke
highest for Asian cities, followed by European and African et al. 1999; Rasmussen et al. 2001). In addition to this, the
cities. All these three regions have been observed to cross absorption rate of heavy metals from the digestion system
the line of high PER. While putting the evaluated values and haemoglobin sensitivity is much higher in children than
for each continent side by side, a comparatively high level adults (Hammond 1982).
of contamination is significant in Asian cities. The major-
ity of studied metals show a high value. The contamina-
tion level in different continents shows a decreasing trend Human health risk assessment
in Asia > Europe > America > Africa > Australia. As toxicity methodologies
in the ecosystem flows from one component to another and
can easily find its way into human systems, insights into the Human health risk assessment has been extensively imple-
risks of exposure to public were estimated and scrutinized. mented to characterize the toxic heavy metals and their
routes of exposure in urban environments. The methodol-
ogy used for the health risk assessment was based on the
Public exposure of heavy metals from road guidelines and Exposure Factors Handbook of the US Envi-
dust ronmental Protection Agency (USEPA 1986, 1989, 1996,
1997, 2001).
Urban populations are most vulnerable to the heavy metals Average daily doses (ADDs) (mg/kg day) of potentially
present in road dust. The road dust possesses the capacity toxic heavy metals that affect both adults and children via
to absorb pollutants like heavy metals and accumulates in ingestion (ADDing), dermal contact (ADDderm), and inhala-
the roadsides and pavements, which again suspend into the tion (ADDinh) were estimated using the following equations:
atmosphere and re-deposit on surfaces under dynamic con-
ditions (Glikson et al. 1995; Tervahattu et al. 2006; Grimm IngR × EF × ED
ADDing = C × × 10−6 (6)
et al. 2008), owing to the action of the wind and other fac- BW × AT
tors. The day-to-day activities in the cities expose humans
to the dust that acts as an important pathway of heavy metal InhR × EF × ED
exposure (Zheng et al. 2010a, b) that are ubiquitous in the
ADDinh = C × (7)
PEF × BW × AT
urban regions (Wilson and Pyatt 2007). In many cities, resi-
dential houses are in close vicinity to the busy streets, which AF × SA × ABS × EF × ED
ADDderm = C × × 10−6 (8)
causes the residents to even more susceptible to road dust BW × AT
(Zheng et al. 2010a, b). These heavy metals bound to the
dust particles enter the human body mainly through three The exposure factors and values used to estimate daily
different pathways, i.e., inhalation, ingestion, and dermal intake value are given in Table S2 in the SI.
absorption, and adversely affect the structure and function
of the organ systems, negatively influencing human health Non‑carcinogenic risk
(Faiz et al. 2009). Moreover, the metals can bioaccumulate
in the human system and often produce carcinogenic effects The non-carcinogenic effects of heavy metals were estimated
(Du et al. 2013; Dockery and Pope 1996; Willers et al. by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index
2005). The metal pollution in road dust and its exposures (HI) carcinogenic risk (RI) (Wei et al. 2015; Chabukdhara
and risk assessment pathways are presented in SI Figure S1. and Nema 2013).
Zheng et al. (2010a, b) reported the increase in heavy The HQ is the ratio of the average daily dose (ADD) of
traffic and the total number of vehicles in most of the cities heavy metal to its reference dose (RfD) for the same expo-
with a high population worldwide. Consequently, a large sure pathway(s) (USEPA 1989).

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

The reference dose (RfD) is the maximum daily dose of separately for children and adults since both the exposure
a particular metal from a specific pathway of exposure for amount and factors responsible for posing risks vary in
both adults and children, which is not believed to cause a different age groups. Therefore, the indices for estimating
substantial risk of adverse effects to individuals during a health risks, as given in Table 4, are different for children
lifetime. As per the USEPA (1989, 2001), in case of the and adults. Although there is also a chance of varying effects
ADD being less than the RfD, and HQ < 1, it is considered among genders, the risks have not been calculated separately
that there will be no risk of adverse health effects, but, if the for males and females due to indices’ unavailability.
ADD is more than the RfD, and HQ > 1, there will be the
probability of adverse health effects. Non‑carcinogenic health risk of road dust heavy metals
The HI is the sum of the hazard quotient. If the value of to children
HI is less than 1, there is no risk of non-carcinogenic effects,
while an HI value more than 1 signifies a chance of adverse The estimated values for children’s total risk due to non-
health impacts. The likelihood of the impact is supposed to carcinogenic metals in road dust in different continents are
increase with the increase of HI values. represented in the following Table 3. According to the col-
∑ ADDi lective evaluated values, the mean HQs via the three expo-
sure pathways show a similar decreasing order of inges-
∑
HI = HQi = (9)
RfDi tion > dermal > inhalation for all the regions, although the
HQ values for all the metals studied in less than 1 for all
the pathways. Moreover, the average daily doses are also
Carcinogenic risk less than the reference doses of the respective metals. This
indicates that there is no significant probability of negative
According to Li et al. (2014), carcinogenic risk is defined as impacts. The estimated HI values of the metals are repre-
an individual’s probability of developing any type of cancer sented in a decreasing series of Pb > Cr > Mn > Cd > Cu > Ni
in his/her whole life due to carcinogenic exposures. > Zn, ranging from 8.48E-01 to 1.52E-02 in the Asian coun-
To quantify the carcinogenic effects, the probable risk of tries. Since the HI is less than 1 for all the metals evaluated,
cancer an individual is likely to develop during a lifetime there is no likelihood of non-carcinogenic impacts. However,
is estimated by calculating the lifetime average daily dose a slight impact might occur if the addition of Pb in the road
(LADD) for each exposure, which is then multiplied by the dusts increases because the HI of Pb has been found to be
cancer slope factor (SF). very close to 1. A more or less similar trend is marked for the
C × EF CR × EDchild CRadult × EDadult HI values of the metals (7.34E-01 to 2.87E-02) in European
LADDi = × ( child + ) cities decreasing in the order of Pb > Cr > Mn > Cu > Cd > Z
AT BW child BW adult
(10) n > Ni; however, the HI value of Pb more than 1 denotes that
there is a substantial risk of adverse health impacts due to
where CR is the absorption rate. For ingestion, CR is equal
Pb exposure to children. The calculated values of HI show a
to IngR; for inhalation, CR is InhR, and for dermal absorp-
decreasing sequence of Pb > Cr > Mn > Cd > Zn > Cu > Ni as
tion, CR = SA × AF × ABF.
for the cities of Africa. The HI values are well below 1, rang-
Carcinogenicrisk(RI) = LADDi × SF i (11) ing between 4.56E-01 and 8.87E-03. The trend of HI values
for American cities has been evaluated to be in the order
The value of RI in the range of ­10–6 to 1­ 0–4 is considered of Pb > Cr > Mn > Cu > Cd > Zn > Ni, where the highest and
to be a tolerable limit of risks (USEPA 1996). In another lowest HI values are 5.02E-01 and 8.10E-03, respectively.
study, Rapant et al. (2011) classified levels of risks as very This depicts that the exposure of the metal does not pose any
low (< ­10–6), low ­(10–6–10–5), medium ­(10–5–10–4), high considerable risk of adverse health impacts. For the Austral-
­(10–4–10–3), and very high (> ­10–3). However, in refer- ian cities, the HI values of metals decrease in the way: Pb
ence to most of the literature, in this review, the former is > Cr > Mn > Cu > Zn > Ni > Cd, with a range of 7.25E-01 to
considered. 1.88E-02. Although HI values for all metals are less than 1,
Pb shows a value close to 1.
Estimation of health risks due to heavy metals Thus, the comparative assessment made on the available
data infers that the children in Australian cities are most
On account of the available data regarding the metal concen- susceptible to the non-carcinogenic health risks due to the
trations in road dust investigated through studies in different exposure to metals present in road dust, followed by cities
regions of the world, the substantial risks are calculated. The of Asia, whereas adverse impacts on the health of children
non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks likely to be caused due to the non-carcinogenic metals are not likely to occur in
by heavy metal exposure through road dust are computed European, African, and American cities.

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Table 3  Non-carcinogenic health risk of road dust heavy metals to children (based on the studied literature)
Metals ADDing ADDinh ADDder Rdfing Rdfinh Rdfder HQing HQinh HQder HI

Asia (n = 35) Pb 227.511 2.91E-03 8.16E-08 4.65E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 8.31E-01 2.32E-05 8.86E-03
Zn 348.491 4.46E-03 1.25E-07 7.13E-06 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 1.49E-02 4.17E-07 1.19E-04
Cu 146.145 1.87E-03 5.24E-08 2.99E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 4.67E-02 1.30E-06 2.49E-04
Ni 42.262 5.40E-04 1.52E-08 8.65E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 2.70E-02 7.36E-07 1.60E-04
Cd 4.089 5.23E-05 1.47E-09 8.37E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 5.23E-02 1.47E-06 8.37E-03
Cr 88.230 1.13E-03 3.16E-08 1.80E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 3.76E-01 1.11E-03 3.01E-02
Mn 747.496 9.56E-03 2.68E-07 1.53E-05 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 2.08E-01 1.87E-02 8.31E-03
Europe (n = 15) Pb 198.827 2.54E-03 7.13E-08 4.07E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 7.26E-01 2.03E-05 7.75E-03
Zn 1014.659 1.30E-02 3.64E-07 2.08E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 4.32E-02 1.21E-06 3.46E-04
Cu 206.010 2.63E-03 7.39E-08 4.21E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 6.58E-02 1.84E-06 3.51E-04
Ni 44.692 5.71E-04 1.60E-08 9.14E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 2.86E-02 7.78E-07 1.69E-04
Cd 3.811 4.87E-05 1.37E-09 7.80E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 4.87E-02 1.37E-06 7.80E-03
Cr 96.883 1.24E-03 3.47E-08 1.98E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 4.13E-01 1.21E-03 3.30E-02
Mn 414.200 5.30E-03 1.49E-07 8.47E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 1.15E-01 1.04E-02 4.60E-03
Africa (n = 9) Pb 123.438 1.58E-03 4.43E-08 2.53E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 4.51E-01 1.26E-05 4.81E-03
Zn 342.439 4.38E-03 1.23E-07 7.01E-06 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 1.46E-02 4.09E-07 1.17E-04
Cu 35.114 4.49E-04 1.26E-08 7.18E-07 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 1.12E-02 3.13E-07 5.99E-05
Ni 13.798 1.76E-04 4.95E-09 2.82E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 8.82E-03 2.40E-07 5.23E-05
Cd 1.586 2.03E-05 5.69E-10 3.24E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 2.03E-02 5.69E-07 3.24E-03
Cr 46.290 5.92E-04 1.66E-08 9.47E-07 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 1.97E-01 5.80E-04 1.58E-02
Mn 179.105 2.29E-03 6.42E-08 3.66E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 4.98E-02 4.49E-03 1.99E-03
America (n = 10) Pb 135.907 1.74E-03 4.87E-08 2.78E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 4.96E-01 1.38E-05 5.30E-03
Zn 220.036 2.81E-03 7.89E-08 4.50E-06 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 9.38E-03 2.63E-07 7.50E-05
Cu 88.596 1.13E-03 3.18E-08 1.81E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 2.83E-02 7.90E-07 1.51E-04
Ni 12.599 1.61E-04 4.52E-09 2.58E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 8.05E-03 2.19E-07 4.77E-05
Cd 1.297 1.66E-05 4.65E-10 2.65E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 1.66E-02 4.65E-07 2.65E-03
Cr 42.538 5.44E-04 1.53E-08 8.70E-07 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 1.81E-01 5.33E-04 1.45E-02
Mn 322.000 4.12E-03 1.15E-07 6.59E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 8.95E-02 8.08E-03 3.58E-03
Australia (n = 3) Pb 196.477 2.51E-03 7.05E-08 4.02E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 7.18E-01 2.00E-05 7.66E-03
Zn 469.327 6.00E-03 1.68E-07 9.60E-06 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 2.00E-02 5.61E-07 1.60E-04
Cu 142.610 1.82E-03 5.11E-08 2.92E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 4.56E-02 1.27E-06 2.43E-04
Ni 29.230 3.74E-04 1.05E-08 5.98E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 1.87E-02 5.09E-07 1.11E-04
Cd 2.050 2.62E-05 7.35E-10 4.19E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 2.62E-02 7.35E-07 4.19E-03
Cr 27.273 3.49E-04 9.78E-09 5.58E-07 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 1.16E-01 3.42E-04 9.30E-03
Mn 142.065 1.82E-03 5.10E-08 2.91E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 3.95E-02 3.56E-03 1.58E-03

n represents the number of studies in each continent

Non‑carcinogenic health risk of road dust heavy metals same for all the regions being studied. The HI values of the
to adults metals are decreasing in the following array: Pb > Cr > Mn >
Cd > Cu > Ni > Zn for Asian cities, Pb > Cr > Mn > Cd >  > C
The probability of negative health impacts on adults due u > Zn > Ni for European and American cities, Pb > Cr > Mn
to non-carcinogenic metal exposure has been determined > Cd > Zn > Cu > Ni for African cities, and Pb > Cr > Mn > C
from the reviewed data in literature. Table 4 represents the u > Cd > Zn > Ni for Australian cities. The HI values are well
estimated values for the non-carcinogenic risk assessment below 1 with a range of 2.33E-03 to 1.35E-01 in cities of
in adults. Analogous to the results obtained for children, the Asia, and 2.79E-03 to 1.16E-01 in Australian cities, while,
mean HQ values illustrate that the major exposure pathway in the case of European, African, and American cities the HI
for the metals in road dust is through ingestion, followed by values are estimated to be very less ranging from 1.40E-01
absorption through the skin, while the least exposure is sup- to 4.30E-03, 1.32E-03 to 7.28E-02, and 1.20E-03 to 8.01E-
posed to be through inhalation. This trend is found to be the 02, respectively. This shows that adults are not susceptible

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Table 4  Non-carcinogenic health risk of road dust heavy metals to adults (based on the studied literature)
Metals ADDing ADDinh ADDder Rdfing Rdfinh Rdfder HQing HQinh HQder HI

Asia (n = 35) Pb 227.511 3.90E-04 3.67E-08 1.19E-05 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 1.12E-01 1.04E-05 2.26E-02
Zn 348.491 5.98E-04 5.63E-08 1.82E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 1.99E-03 1.88E-07 3.03E-04
Cu 146.145 2.51E-04 2.36E-08 7.63E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 6.27E-03 5.87E-07 6.36E-04
Ni 42.262 7.25E-05 6.82E-09 2.21E-06 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 3.62E-03 3.31E-07 4.09E-04
Cd 4.089 7.01E-06 6.60E-10 2.14E-07 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 7.01E-03 6.60E-07 2.14E-02
Cr 88.230 1.51E-04 1.42E-08 4.61E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 5.04E-02 4.98E-04 7.68E-02
Mn 747.496 1.28E-03 1.21E-07 3.90E-05 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 2.79E-02 8.44E-03 2.12E-02
Europe (n = 15) Pb 198.827 3.41E-04 3.21E-08 1.04E-05 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 9.74E-02 9.12E-06 1.98E-02
Zn 1014.659 1.74E-03 1.64E-07 5.30E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 5.80E-03 5.46E-07 8.83E-04
Cu 206.010 3.53E-04 3.33E-08 1.08E-05 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 8.83E-03 8.27E-07 8.97E-04
Ni 44.692 7.67E-05 7.22E-09 2.33E-06 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 3.83E-03 3.50E-07 4.32E-04
Cd 3.811 6.54E-06 6.15E-10 1.99E-07 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 6.54E-03 6.15E-07 1.99E-02
Cr 96.883 1.66E-04 1.56E-08 5.06E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 5.54E-02 5.47E-04 8.43E-02
Mn 414.200 7.11E-04 6.69E-08 2.16E-05 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 1.54E-02 4.68E-03 1.18E-02
Africa (n = 9) Pb 123.438 2.12E-04 1.99E-08 6.45E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 6.05E-02 5.66E-06 1.23E-02
Zn 342.439 5.87E-04 5.53E-08 1.79E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 1.96E-03 1.84E-07 2.98E-04
Cu 35.114 6.02E-05 5.67E-09 1.83E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 1.51E-03 1.41E-07 1.53E-04
Ni 13.7978 2.37E-05 2.23E-09 7.21E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 1.18E-03 1.08E-07 1.33E-04
Cd 1.58571 2.72E-06 2.56E-10 8.28E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 2.72E-03 2.56E-07 8.28E-03
Cr 46.29 7.94E-05 7.47E-09 2.42E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 2.65E-02 2.61E-04 4.03E-02
Mn 179.105 3.07E-04 2.89E-08 9.36E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 6.68E-03 2.02E-03 5.08E-03
America (n = 10) Pb 135.907 2.33E-04 2.19E-08 7.10E-06 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 6.66E-02 6.23E-06 1.35E-02
Zn 220.036 3.77E-04 3.55E-08 1.15E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 1.26E-03 1.18E-07 1.92E-04
Cu 88.596 1.52E-04 1.43E-08 4.63E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 3.80E-03 3.56E-07 3.86E-04
Ni 12.599 2.16E-05 2.03E-09 6.58E-07 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 1.08E-03 9.87E-08 1.22E-04
Cd 1.297 2.22E-06 2.09E-10 6.77E-08 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 2.22E-03 2.09E-07 6.77E-03
Cr 42.538 7.30E-05 6.87E-09 2.22E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 2.43E-02 2.40E-04 3.70E-02
Mn 322.000 5.52E-04 5.20E-08 1.68E-05 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 1.20E-02 3.64E-03 9.14E-03
Australia (n = 3) Pb 196.477 3.37E-04 3.17E-08 1.03E-05 3.50E-03 3.52E-03 5.25E-04 9.63E-02 9.01E-06 1.95E-02
Zn 469.327 8.05E-04 7.58E-08 2.45E-05 3.00E-01 3.00E-01 6.00E-02 2.68E-03 2.53E-07 4.09E-04
Cu 142.610 2.45E-04 2.30E-08 7.45E-06 4.00E-02 4.02E-02 1.20E-02 6.12E-03 5.73E-07 6.21E-04
Ni 29.230 5.01E-05 4.72E-09 1.53E-06 2.00E-02 2.06E-02 5.40E-03 2.51E-03 2.29E-07 2.83E-04
Cd 2.050 3.52E-06 3.31E-10 1.07E-07 1.00E-03 1.00E-03 1.00E-05 3.52E-03 3.31E-07 1.07E-02
Cr 27.273 4.68E-05 4.40E-09 1.42E-06 3.00E-03 2.86E-05 6.00E-05 1.56E-02 1.54E-04 2.37E-02
Mn 142.065 2.44E-04 2.29E-08 7.42E-06 4.60E-02 1.43E-05 1.84E-03 5.30E-03 1.60E-03 4.03E-03

n represents the number of studies in each continent

to be affected by the non-carcinogenic metals in the road specific target organs in human beings. Furthermore, the
dust, which is believed to be governed by the bodyweight metals can cause cancer when the human body is sub-
of different age groups, the habits of children, such as pica, jected to chronic exposure to a carcinogenic metal. There-
which increases the ingestion rate in children, the higher fore, a comprehensive evaluation of the carcinogenic risks
absorption rate in children, etc. in an individual’s lifetime has been done, which is repre-
sented in Table 5. It has been found that the risk values of
Carcinogenic risk of road dust heavy metals all the carcinogenic metals are within the threshold limit
range for all the regions, which depicts that there is no
From the literature being reviewed, it has been found that possibility of carcinogenic health risks due to exposure
among the metals present in road dust of urban areas, Ni, to metals in road dust of the studied regions.
Cr, and Cd are likely to cause carcinogenic effects on

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 Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Table 5  Carcinogenic health risk of road dust heavy metals

Carci- LADDing LADDinh LADDder SF RIing RIinh RIder Total RI
nogenic
Metals

Asia (n = 35) Ni 7.12E + 01 4.95E + 00 8.31E-01 8.40E-01 5.98E + 01 4.16E + 00 6.98E-01 6.46E + 01
Cd 6.89E + 00 4.79E-01 8.04E-02 6.30E + 00 4.34E + 01 3.02E + 00 5.07E-01 4.69E + 01
Cr 1.49E + 02 1.03E + 01 1.73E + 00 4.20E + 01 6.24E + 03 4.34E + 02 7.29E + 01 6.75E + 03
Europe (n = 15) Ni 7.53E + 01 5.23E + 00 8.79E-01 8.40E-01 6.32E + 01 4.40E + 00 7.38E-01 6.84E + 01
Cd 6.42E + 00 4.46E-01 7.49E-02 6.30E + 00 4.04E + 01 2.81E + 00 4.72E-01 4.37E + 01
Cr 1.63E + 02 1.13E + 01 1.90E + 00 4.20E + 01 6.85E + 03 4.77E + 02 8.00E + 01 7.41E + 03
Africa (n = 9) Ni 2.32E + 01 1.62E + 00 2.71E-01 8.40E-01 1.95E + 01 1.36E + 00 2.28E-01 2.11E + 01
Cd 2.67E + 00 1.86E-01 3.12E-02 6.30E + 00 1.68E + 01 1.17E + 00 1.96E-01 1.82E + 01
Cr 7.80E + 01 5.42E + 00 9.10E-01 4.20E + 01 3.27E + 03 2.28E + 02 3.82E + 01 3.54E + 03
America (n = 10) Ni 2.12E + 01 1.48E + 00 2.48E-01 8.40E-01 1.78E + 01 1.24E + 00 2.08E-01 1.93E + 01
Cd 2.18E + 00 1.52E-01 2.55E-02 6.30E + 00 1.38E + 01 9.57E-01 1.61E-01 1.49E + 01
Cr 7.16E + 01 4.98E + 00 8.36E-01 4.20E + 01 3.01E + 03 2.09E + 02 3.51E + 01 3.25E + 03
Australia (n = 3) Ni 4.92E + 01 3.42E + 00 5.75E-01 8.40E-01 4.13E + 01 2.88E + 00 4.83E-01 4.47E + 01
Cd 3.45E + 00 2.40E-01 4.03E-02 6.30E + 00 2.17E + 01 1.51E + 00 2.54E-01 2.35E + 01
Cr 4.59E + 01 3.19E + 00 5.36E-01 4.20E + 01 1.93E + 03 1.34E + 02 2.25E + 01 2.09E + 03

n represents the number of studies in each continent

Conclusions The world’s most populated countries and most polluted

cities being in Asia conform to this observation. In rela-
A comprehensive evaluation of several published literature tion to these results, a low level of contamination is pre-
is done to represent the road dust pollution status and the vailing in Africa, although the highest is prevalent in Asia,
predicted health risk related to it on a global scale. More- followed by Australia, Europe, and America. For European
over, this review and assessment have also identified that cities like Spain and France, a few of the studies reported
limited studies have been conducted in several regions of significantly high Pb concentrations in the road dust in the
the world. This remains a knowledge gap because moderni- past century. This indicates that pollution status has changed
zation over the decades and centuries has increased anthro- over the years, owing to awareness and mitigation measures.
pogenic activities and potential pollution sources. Hence, Among the Asian countries, studies in Chinese cities have
identification of the level of pollution not only is important indicated a noticeable contribution to pollution load due to
to develop knowledge about the same but also is need to heavy metals in road dust. Similarly, an overall high load of
put forward mitigation measures, if necessary. For instance, pollution is established in Asian and European cities. Sig-
in some studies, in European cities like Spain and France, nificant potential of ecological risks was indicated in Asian,
they have reported significantly high Pb concentrations in European, and African cities, with Cd and Pb posing the
the road dust in the past century. The large variation among maximum threat. While omission of leaded gasoline has
metal concentrations over the years in Europe indicates that been adopted since years to carb down Pb contamination,
pollution status has changed over the years, owing to aware- control measures for sources of Cd are of dire necessity of
ness and mitigation measures. Also, a large downtrend has the time. The assessment of human health risks determined
been observed for some of the major trace metals like Pb, through this review put forward that the most significant
in all the regions and Cd, Zn, and Cu, along with Pb for pathway for entry of metals in the road dust is through inges-
Asian cities, as well. Although spatial variation of metal tion. While dermal absorption also contributes to a certain
concentrations was significant, the evaluated. The mean con- extent, metals’ exposure through the inhalation pathway is
centration of the metals that have been evaluated suggests negligible. It has also been found that although there is no
an abundance of Fe and Mn in the road dust worldwide. In such health risk likely to be caused by the non-carcinogenic
addition, significantly high concentrations of metals like Zn metals, children in Asian and Australian cities are on the
and Pb are recorded in the road dust. An overall high mean verge of susceptibility to develop non-carcinogenic health
concentration of metals is observed in Asia, followed by risks due to Pb contamination in road dust unless the input of
America, Europe, and Australia, while the mean concentra- the metal is controlled. On the contrary, there is no detected
tion of metals in road dust is the lowest in African cities. possibility of health risk to adults due to non-carcinogenic

13

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Environmental Science and Pollution Research

metals, even the carcinogenic metals are seen to be within Ahmed F, Ishiga H (2006) Trace metal concentrations in street dusts
the threshold limit of 1­ 0–6 to 1­ 0–4, indicating that there is no of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Atmos Environ 40(21):3835–3844
Ambade B, Litrupa S (2012) Evaluation of heavy metal contamina-
risk of cancer to the population. tion in road dust fallout of Bhilai City. Int J Adv Engg Res
Stud 1:81–83
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplemen- Apeagyei E, Bank MS, Spengler JD (2011) Distribution of heavy
tary material available at https://d​ oi.o​ rg/1​ 0.1​ 007/s​ 11356-0​ 22-1​ 8583-7. metals in road dust along an urban–rural gradient in Massa-
chusetts. Atmos Environ 45:2310–2323
Author contribution All authors contributed to the study conception Arslan H (2001) Heavy metals in street dust in Bursa, Turkey. J Trace
and design. Data collection, analysis, and first draft were prepared by Microprobe Tech 19(3):439–445
Sayantee Roy and Sanjay Kumar Gupta. Data analysis was also done Atiemo SM, Ofosu FG, Aboh IJK, Oppon OC (2012) Levels
by Jaiprakash. Prof. Gazala Habib supervised this study. Prof Prashant and sources of heavy metal contamination in road dust in
Kumar reviewed and revised the first draft and revised manuscript. selected major highways of Accra, Ghana. X-Ray Spectrom
41(2):105–110
Funding Prashant Kumar received grants from the NERC funded pro- Banerjee ADK (2003) Heavy metal levels and solid phase specia-
ject, ASAP-Delhi (An Integrated Study of Air Pollutant Sources in the tion in street dusts of Delhi, India. Environ Pollut 123:95–105
Delhi National Capital Region; Grant No. NE/P016510/1) as a part of Bargagli R (1998) Trace elements in terrestrial plants: an ecophysi-
the UK-India NERC-MOES Programme on Atmospheric Pollution and ological approach to biomonitoring and biorecovery. Spring-
Human Health in an Indian Megacity (Delhi); “Clean Air Engineering erVerlag, Berlin, Germany
for Homes (CArE-Homes)” and the “Knowledge Transfer and Practi- Birch GF, Scollen A (2003) Heavy metals in road dust, gully pots
cal application of research on indoor air quality (KTP-IAQ)” projects, and parkland soils in a highly urbanized sub-catchment of Port
which are funded by the University of Surrey’s Research England fund- Jackson, Australia. Aust J Soil Res 41:1329–1342
ing under the Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) programme. Bilos C, Colomobo JC, Skorupka CN, Rodriguez Presa MJ (2001)
Source distribution and variability of airborne trace metals
in La Plata city area, Argentina. Environ Pollut 111:149–158
Data Availability All the data is included in this manuscript. Bourliva A, Kantiranis N, Papadopoulou L, Aidona E, Christo-
phoridis C, Kollias P, Evgenakis M, Fytianos K (2018) Sea-
Declarations sonal and spatial variations of magnetic susceptibility and
potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in road dusts of Thessaloniki
Ethical approval Not applicable. city, Greece: A one-year monitoring period. Sci Total Environ
639:417–427
Consent to participate Not applicable. Boyd HB, Pedersen F, Cohr KH, Damborg A, Jakobsen BM, Kris-
tensen P, SamsoePetersen L (1999) Exposure scenarios and
Consent to publish Not applicable. guidance values for urban soil pollutants. Regu Toxico Pharma
30:197–208
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size upon the retention of particulate matter in the human lung.
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