Pollution Characteristics and Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment of Toxic Elements in Fallout Dusts of Ma'an District Schools

Abstract

The main goals of this paper were to (i) analyze the fallout dust deposits collected from 16 schools in the Ma’an district in Jordan and study their pollution characteristics and (ii) assess the ecological and human health risk of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) exposure to these dusts. Elemental and mineralogy analyses were conducted using X-ray fluorescence and diffraction techniques. The most abundant major elements in the dust were Ca, Si, Fe and Al, while the main minerals were carbonate and silicate indicating the detrital sedimentary origin of the dust. The pollution level was assessed using the enrichment factor, contamination factor, geo-accumulation index, the Nemerow integrated pollution index and pollution load index, which were in the order of Zn>Pb>Cu>Cr>V>Mn=Fe. The potential ecological risk results showed a very low ecological risk. For children and adults, both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks related to ingestion, dermal contact and inhalation of fallout dust were assessed.