Environmental geochemistry of heavy metals and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) compounds in street dust of Abadan

The aim of this study was to assess heavy metals pollution and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in street dust of Abadan city in Khuzestan province. For this purpose, Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and Potential ecological risk index was calculated. twenty street dust samples were collected and concentrations of heavy metals and some (TPH) were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and gas chromatography flame ionization, respectively. The results based on the mean concentration of metals show adecreasing trend: as Fe>Mn> Zn> Cr> Cu>Pb> Ni> V> Co> As> Mo> Ag> Cd. Judging from calculated Enrichment Factors (EF), most elements display significant pollution in most stations. Station 12 indicated higher contamination compared with other stations according to Igeo. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that Ni, Co and Cr mainly orginate from natural source, while other elements come from antropogenic sources. These results are confirmed by those obtained from calculating EF and Igeo. The maximum content of TPH occurs at Lane-yek cross. The major sources of TPH are probably vehicles and Abadan refinery.