Human health risk assessment of PTEs in soil originating from urban parks in Serbia

Abstract

Soil pollution with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their impact on human health has become an increasingly serious worldwide concern. The content of ten PTEs (As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn) in soil samples from urban parks in Pančevo, Smederevo, Obrenovac and Belgrade (Serbia) were measured in order to evaluate their possible health risk in this study. The concentration of As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn and Sr were within values described for upper continental crust, unlike Cu and Pb content at all sampling sites, Ni in Pančevo, Smederevo and Obrenovac and Zn in Belgrade which exceeded values described for upper continental crust. Their increased content is conditioned by the nature of the geological substrate, industrial activity in the environment, as well as traffic. Analysis of the health risks showed that children are more susceptible to non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health effects of PTEs compared to adults, and that oral ingestion has the highest potential risk both for adults and children. Lead poses a potential non-carcinogenic risk to children through ingestion pathway. The carcinogenic risk was within the acceptable limits. The results of this study could be useful in providing basic information about the PTEs content in selected urban parks and the health risk status of people inhabiting these areas.