The rate of urbanisation in Nsukka, Nigeria, is a trending phenomenon that is characterised by an overwhelming influence on the environment. Twenty-one dust and soil samples were collected from points strategically located on major roadsides in Nsukka and analysed for hazardous trace elements. The ecological and potential human health risks of the samples were estimated, and the pollution source was deduced with hierarchical cluster analysis. The relative abundance of the trace elements followed the order of Fe > As > Ni > Cr > Pb > Zn > Mn > Cu > Cd in roadside dust and Fe > As > Pb > Ni > Zn > Cr > Mn > Cu > Cd in roadside soil. Results obtained highlighted the impact of anthropogenic activities on soil and dust, as the multi-element contamination indices for the different groups of samples were below unity. The health risk assessment revealed that Cr was 120 times more likely to cause health problems than Pb and 450 times more than Ni. The agglomerated cancer risk (CR) for all exposure pathways estimated for children was about 1.2 times higher than that of adults, and the CR value for roadside dust was slightly higher than that of soil. All values of CR obtained were within the acceptable range of 10⁻⁶ and 10⁻⁴. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy to state that a significant health risk is bound to occur if adequate measures are not taken to curb the current rate of metal accumulation in the soil.

中文翻译：

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快速发展的城市居住区中土壤和路边尘埃的潜在环境和人类健康风险

尼日利亚Nsukka的城市化速度是一种趋势现象，其特征是对环境的压倒性影响。从战略地点位于Nsukka主要路边的地点收集了21个灰尘和土壤样品，并分析了其中的有害微量元素。估算了样品的生态和潜在的人类健康风险，并通过层次聚类分析推导了污染源。微量元素的相对丰度按照路边粉尘中Fe> As> Ni> Cr> Pb> Zn> Mn> Cu> Cd和Fe> As> Pb> Ni> Zn> Cr> Mn> Cu> Cd的顺序排列路边的土壤。获得的结果突出了人为活动对土壤和灰尘的影响，因为不同组样品的多元素污染指数均低于1。健康风险评估显示，Cr引起健康问题的可能性是Pb的120倍，Ni的450倍。对于儿童而言，所有暴露途径的聚集性癌症风险（CR）大约是成人的1.2倍，路边灰尘的CR值略高于土壤。获得的所有CR值均在10的可接受范围内^-6和10 ^-4。然而，值得注意的是，如果不采取适当措施抑制当前土壤中金属的积累速度，势必会产生重大的健康风险。