Pollution Indexing and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy-Metals-Laden Indoor and Outdoor Dust in Elementary School Environments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Conference Paper

2022

The prevalence of potentially toxic heavy metals (HMs)-bearing dust in the environment
is posing serious health risks to humans. Therefore, the occurrence of HMs in indoor and outdoor
dust samples of elementary school’s environment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were reported, and associated potential human health risks were estimated in this study. Dust samples were collected
from outdoor and indoor environments from eighteen elementary schools using a soft plastic brush.
The mean concentrations of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in collected indoor dust samples were much
higher (0.08, 3.45, 59.20, 15.20, 4.99, and 94.10 mg kg−1, respectively) than that of outdoor dust samples (0.07, 3.07, 42.20, 13.60, 4.57, and 62.40 mg kg−1, respectively), due to fans operation, opened
windows, and resuspension of dust by children’s activities. The values of estimated enrichment
factor revealed that both the outdoor and indoor dusts were moderately contaminated with Zn and
Cu, while highly contaminated with Cd and Pb. However, the estimated potential ecological risks
associated with HMs were lower. Health risks (non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic) calculations exhibited no potential risks of HMs in the schools’ dust toward children. However, health risks for
children were determined in the following order: up to 6 years > 6–12 years > adults. Therefore,
assessing the potential health risks posed by HM-contaminated dust in school environments is necessary to avoid any possible children’s health concerns.