Evaluation and determination of the ecological risk of lead, zinc and cadmium in the atmospheric dust of Isfahan city

Dust is one of the most important sources of heavy metals in the environment. Heavy metals can be dispersion on a large scale by binding to dust particles. This study aimed to evaluate and measure the pollution of heavy metals in subsidence dust of Sajzi plain in Isfahan.That now is the most important source of dust in Isfahan city.

After collecting samples for three seasons, this study determined the amount of lead, zinc, and cadmium, and then pollution indicators were assessed, such as accumulation index and contamination degree, etc

The contamination degree showed that cadmium and lead were in a very low degree of contamination and zinc was in a low degree of contamination. Also, the ecological risk index was a low-risk range for cadmium, lead, and copper. The environmental risk for the three elements was less than 150, which showed low-risk potential.

According to the distribution of pollution, it can be concluded that the pollution slope for the zinc and lead element was from northeast to southwest. The distribution of contaminated cadmium was different in three seasons. Stations 2 and 4 had the highest average pollution for the zinc element. Also, station 4 for the lead element showed the highest average pollution