Assessment of human exposure to heavy metals via ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact in urban and background soils

Heavy metals accumulate in soil and pose negative effects on living organisms. Additionally, they affect soil fertility. In this study, soil samples from urban and background sites located in Aksaray, Uşak, Konya, Elazığ, Malatya, Kayseri, Mersin, Kırıkkale, Kars, Kastamonu, Çankırı, İzmir, İstanbul, Antaya and Van provinces of Turkey were analyzed to investigate the concentrations of Cd, Hg, Pb, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and As using ICP-MS instrument. Based on the results obtained from the analysis, ecological risk assessment and human exposure calculations were conducted. Cooncentrations of Cd, Hg, Pb, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As in urban areas were 379, 194, 18034, 32294, 41890, 205343, 5957, 1621, 13215, 34035, 5649 µg/kg, respectively whereas it was 255, 52, 9621, 18363, 40202, 159140, 5444, 577, 6642, 18023, 3821 µg/kg, respectively in bakcground sites. It was determined that only the concentraion of As was exceeded the limit values set in Legislation on Soil Pollution Control and Areas contaminated by Point Sources. Carcinogenic risk values was detected as 4.71x10-3 and 1.81x10-3 in urban areas for children and adults, respectively while it was 3.56x10-3 and 1.37 x10-3 at background sites, respectively. Non-cancerogenic risk values were 304.9x10-3 and 30.7x10-3 in urban areas for children and adults respectively while it was 252.4x10-3 and 25.8x10-3 at background sites, respectively. Results showed that Van and Aksaray had the highest ecological risk whereas Istanbul showed the high ecological risk level. Keywords: Heavy metals, human exposure, urban, background, risk assessment, soil pollution