Abstract

Mercury (Hg) contamination is a frequently debated issue in environmental research. In this study, the distribution and the ecological and health risk of Hg in soil and outdoor dust from 19 kindergartens from Vanadzor city were investigated. In comparison with other cities, Hg concentrations in dust and soil samples retrieved from Vanadzor were significantly low constituting 0.03–0.42 mg/kg and 0.025–0.05 mg/kg respectively. The total concentrations of Hg were determined using XRF-spectrometry, with a detection limit of 3·10⁻⁴mg/kg. The geostatistical analyses suggested relatively high Hg concentrations only in 4 outdoor dust samples, possibly influenced by the impact of certain anthropogenic activity. In all soil and remaining 15 outdoor dust samples, Hg concentrations had a natural origin. According to the coefficient of concentration (Kc), all soil samples were marked at the low Hg pollution level. Dust Kc values of 15 kindergartens are under the allowable pollution level, while in 4 kindergartens moderately hazardous pollution was detected. The Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) revealed a low level of risk in all soil and 13 dust samples; a moderate, high and very high ecological risk in remaining kindergartens was detected. The results of the health risk assessment indicated the absence of an adverse non-carcinogenic health effect for children from kindergarten soil and outdoor dust in terms of Hg contamination.

摘要

汞（Hg）污染是环境研究中经常被争论的问题。本研究调查了Vanadzor市19所幼儿园的土壤和室外灰尘中Hg的分布及其生态和健康风险。与其他城市相比，从Vanadzor回收的粉尘和土壤样品中的汞浓度非常低，分别为0.03-0.42 mg / kg和0.025-0.05 mg / kg。使用X射线荧光光谱法测定Hg的总浓度，检出限为3·10 ^-4毫克/千克 地统计分析表明，汞含量仅在4个室外灰尘样品中相对较高，这可能受某些人为活动的影响。在所有土壤和其余15个室外灰尘样品中，汞的浓度都是自然产生的。根据浓度系数（Kc），所有土壤样品均标记为低汞污染水平。15所幼儿园的尘埃Kc值在允许的污染水平内，而4所幼儿园中有中等程度的有害污染。潜在生态风险指数（PERI）显示所有土壤和13个灰尘样品中的风险水平都很低；在剩余的幼儿园中发现了中等，高和非常高的生态风险。