Abstract:
Sydney estuary catchment supports the largest city in Australia and provides essential eco-social and environmental services; however, the region has been influenced by extensive anthropogenic modification. Soil metal concentrations in the catchment had been studied previously; however, the current investigation was designed to determine the risk posed by these contaminants to human health. Soil metal concentrations were higher than observed in most global capitals and increased substantially in the south and south-east of the catchment and close to the central business district. Road-side soils and road dust contained the highest concentration of metals in the catchment. Lead in catchment soils was closely related to traffic density and sourced from the historic use of Pb in petrol. A human health assessment indicated that soil Cd, Ni and Zn posed no non-carcinogenic risk (NCR), or carcinogenic risk (CR) for children, or adults in Sydney estuary catchment and that Cu and Cr may pose minor NCR for children. Vehicle-related Pb raised the greatest human health risk in catchment soils and may pose NCR at 32% and 4.3% of sites for children and adults, respectively. Inconsistent analytical techniques used in CR and NCR evaluations produce incomparable assessments and a consistent` methodology is suggested to improve interpretation. Human health risk may well be higher than commonly calculated due to pollutants present in urban soil not being included in assessments.
摘要:
悉尼河口集水区支撑着澳大利亚最大的城市,并提供基本的生态社会和环境服务;然而,该地区受到了广泛的人为改造的影响。之前已经研究了流域中的土壤金属浓度;然而,目前的调查旨在确定这些污染物对人类健康构成的风险。土壤金属浓度高于大多数全球首都的观察值,并且在集水区的南部和东南部以及靠近中央商务区的地方大幅增加。路边土壤和道路灰尘在集水区中含有最高浓度的金属。集水区土壤中的铅与交通密度密切相关,并且来自汽油中铅的历史使用。人类健康评估表明,土壤Cd,镍和锌不构成非致癌风险(NCR),或儿童的致癌风险(CR),或悉尼河口流域的成年人,铜和铬可能对儿童构成较小的NCR。与车辆相关的铅在流域土壤中增加了最大的人类健康风险,可能对儿童和成人造成32%和4.3%的NCR,分别。CR和NCR评估中使用的不一致的分析技术会产生无与伦比的评估,并建议使用一致的“方法”来改善解释。由于城市土壤中存在的污染物未包括在评估中,因此人类健康风险可能比通常计算的要高。