Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland
Urban road dust is an increasingly important source of air pollution and poses a serious threat to human health. In Poland, the urban road dust (URD) problem is enhanced by the use of old generation transport vehicles and transport systems. Seasonal variation in URD-bound elements is not well-known...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/13/7444 |
| _version_ | 1797592238114471936 |
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| author | Justyna Rybak Magdalena Wróbel Angelika Pieśniewska Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska Grzegorz Majewski |
| author_facet | Justyna Rybak Magdalena Wróbel Angelika Pieśniewska Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska Grzegorz Majewski |
| author_sort | Justyna Rybak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban road dust is an increasingly important source of air pollution and poses a serious threat to human health. In Poland, the urban road dust (URD) problem is enhanced by the use of old generation transport vehicles and transport systems. Seasonal variation in URD-bound elements is not well-known in Poland and controlling their pollution level can be a tough task. Therefore, studies on winter dust pollution will help to understand the sources of URD and take appropriate measures to reduce road dust emissions in the future. We analysed the relative content of heavy metals in two representative regions of Poland, Lower and Upper Silesia, and evaluated the sources of the contamination with the following pollution indices: Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), pollution index (PI), and Pollution Load Index (PLI). We assessed the health risk for inhabitants due to the exposure to toxic metals through URD. We found that both studied regions are quite heavily polluted in winter. Our studies clearly show that the URD-bound elements level is much higher in Upper Silesia than in Lower Silesia in winter. The results of this study are useful for researchers to bridge the gap on the pollution of elements in URD from Poland, where there is a lack of such data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:48:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4bf458f0d194d9f9be9d1f7f0a85a68 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:48:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4bf458f0d194d9f9be9d1f7f0a85a682023-11-18T16:06:28ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-06-011313744410.3390/app13137444Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in PolandJustyna Rybak0Magdalena Wróbel1Angelika Pieśniewska2Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska3Grzegorz Majewski4Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, PolandFaculty of Environmental Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, PolandFaculty of Environmental Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, PolandThe Main School of Fire Service, Institute of Safety Engineering, 52/54 Słowackiego St., 01-629 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 166 Nowoursynowska St., 02-787 Warsaw, PolandUrban road dust is an increasingly important source of air pollution and poses a serious threat to human health. In Poland, the urban road dust (URD) problem is enhanced by the use of old generation transport vehicles and transport systems. Seasonal variation in URD-bound elements is not well-known in Poland and controlling their pollution level can be a tough task. Therefore, studies on winter dust pollution will help to understand the sources of URD and take appropriate measures to reduce road dust emissions in the future. We analysed the relative content of heavy metals in two representative regions of Poland, Lower and Upper Silesia, and evaluated the sources of the contamination with the following pollution indices: Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), pollution index (PI), and Pollution Load Index (PLI). We assessed the health risk for inhabitants due to the exposure to toxic metals through URD. We found that both studied regions are quite heavily polluted in winter. Our studies clearly show that the URD-bound elements level is much higher in Upper Silesia than in Lower Silesia in winter. The results of this study are useful for researchers to bridge the gap on the pollution of elements in URD from Poland, where there is a lack of such data.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/13/7444heavy metalsurban road dusthealth riskroad trafficpollution |
| spellingShingle | Justyna Rybak Magdalena Wróbel Angelika Pieśniewska Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska Grzegorz Majewski Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland Applied Sciences heavy metals urban road dust health risk road traffic pollution |
| title | Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland |
| title_full | Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland |
| title_fullStr | Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland |
| title_short | Possible Health Effects of Road Dust in Winter: Studies in Poland |
| title_sort | possible health effects of road dust in winter studies in poland |
| topic | heavy metals urban road dust health risk road traffic pollution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/13/7444 |
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