Fractionation and distribution of heavy metals in street dust in Amman, Jordan

Abstract EN

Different types of street dust: major streets, minor streets, gas stations, traffic lights, and car parks in Amman were subjected to size-fractionation into three sizes : 500-125^m, 125-53 nm, and < 53 Sequential extraction was also performed on the non-fractionated samples using Tessier procedure.

The sequentially extracted and the fractionated samples were analyzed for Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, and Mn using flame atomic absorption.

The silt fraction (< 53^m particles) contains the highest concentrations of all elements in most types of street dust samples followed by the fine fraction (125-53 |im particles).

From the sequential extraction data, the highest concentrations of heavy metals were : Pb, Cd, Zn, and Mn in Fe-Mn oxide fraction, and Cu in the organic fraction.