Heavy metal concentrations of atmospheric ambient deposition dust in Istanbul-Bosphorus Bridge tollhouses

Abstract

Air Pollution emissions due to motor vehicle-related traffic on motorways are sent into the atmosphere. Along with many pollutants from motor vehicles because of fossile fuel usage, heavy metals are also emitted as particles with exhausted gas. Heavy metals are one of the important parameters among environmental pollution sources. Heavy metals from motor vehicles may be found as PM in motorway atmosphere and be involved in street dust by depositing on roads as atmospheric precipitates. Bridge tollhouses are one of the most closely encountered environments of human beings with this kind of dust. In this study, time-related changes of atmospheric precipitate depositing per unit area were determined on breathing height of tollhouse workers, as well as concentrations of lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni) were measured. The study area was Istanbul Bosphorus Bridge, which is one of the busiest points of the world (referred to as the junction point of Asia and Europe) after it was merged to international D-100 motorway. According to the results obtained from the samples collected in ten different times during thirteen months, average lead concentration was found to be 1454.65 mg/kg dry soil, where the concentrations of copper, zinc, cadmium, and nickel were 399.12, 2034.78, 24.37, and 140.92 mg/kg dry soil, respectively.