Elemental composition of rural household dust in Brahmaputra fluvial plain: insights from SEM-EDS, receptor model,
Bijay Sharma1,2,3, Sumi Handique2, Darpa Saurav Jyethi4
1Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal, India.
Abstract:
The study attempts to look into the morphological characteristics, elemental composition, contamination, source contributions, and associated health risks in household dust of Napaam, a rural region in the Brahmaputra flood plain in North East India. Morphological evidence suggests that most of the house dust particles were sourced from vehicle abrasion and soil. Three contamination indices-enrichment factor (EF), index of geo-accumulation (Igeo), and pollution load index (PLI) indicated that Cl and four trace elements (Cu, Zn, As, and Pb) are significantly enriched in house dust with extreme pollution load. Principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) revealed 3 potential major sources of elements in house dust-traffic + re-suspension of road dust (35.8%), soil dust (22.2%), and river sediment deposit (16.4%). Two minor sources-biomass burning (13.3%), and construction activities (12.3%) were also identified. Based on health risk assessment (HRA), both children and adult were found to be susceptible to non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks.
