Investigation of the toxic effect of atmospheric settled dust originating from stone quarries in Konya province

The research suggests that quarrying activities lead to various environmental impacts, primarily including dust/particulate pollution. This study was conducted in a region with multiple quarry sites, where 10 out of the 75 operating quarries in Konya province are located. Particle (Bulk-TSP) and snow samples were collected simultaneously from an approximate 0.36 km distance to the multiple quarry site, where the influence of wind-borne contamination was transported and negatively affected the residential area, as well as the urban background area. pH, conductivity, total extractable organic matter, solid matter fraction, heavy metal ATR – FTIR, and GC-MS analyses were conducted according to standard techniques. The total depositions are 145.086, 58.159, and 3.472 mg/m2-day in the quarry area, residential area, and background area, respectively. During the sampling period, the total deposited dust in the quarry area increased by 41.7 times compared to the background, reaching 52.9 g/m2-year. In the residential area, it was determined that there is a 14.67-fold increase in deposited dust compared to the background. The study indicated that the background total deposited dust has a high organic content (40% insoluble in water and 33% soluble in water), whereas the quarry area has a high inorganic content (88.05% insoluble in water and 7.463% soluble in water). In the residential area, the total deposited dust contains 33.68% insoluble in water and 16% water-soluble organic matter. The total respirable particulate matter (TSP) in the quarry area and background area were determined to be 599.964 µg/m3 and 31.890 µg/m3, respectively. The pH of the quarry area bulk sample is higher than that of the background bulk sample (quarry: 8.17, background: 7.39), indicating a weakly alkaline nature. The conductivity values of the quarry and background bulk samples are 348 µS/cm and 202.5 µS/cm, respectively. In the insoluble fraction of the bulk samples, the macroelements in the quarry area are as follows (µg/g): Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ > P+ > Mn. In the background area, the sequence is Ca2+ > Mg2+ > P+ > Na+ > K+ > Mn. In the residential area, the order is Ca2+ > Na+ > K+ > P > Mg2+ > Mn. In the residential area, the order for the TSP samples is Ca2+ > P > Na+ > K+ > Mg2+ > Mn, which is different from the bulk samples' sequence. Toxic elements exhibited similar trends in both the insoluble fraction of the bulk samples and the TSP samples in the residential area (residential TSP and bulk - As > Pb > Ni > Co > Cd). For the background bulk samples, the order is Pb > As > Ni > Co > Cd, which differs from the sequence in the quarry bulk/TSP samples. In the insoluble fraction of the bulk samples, the order of microelements in the quarry area is: Zn, Cu, Ba, Mn, Cr, Se, Mo and Al. In the background area, the sequence is Zn, Ba, Cu, Mn, Se, Al, Cr and Mo. In the residential area, the order is Zn > Ba > Mn > Cu > Cr > Mo > Se > Al. In the residential area, the sequence for TSP samples is Zn, Ba, Mn, Cu, Cr, Se, Al, Mo. Zn has been identified as the highest detected microelement in all samples. In the study, although two distinct vibrations were identified in the infrared (FTIR) spectrum of the quarry dust and background dust, it was observed that they exhibited similar spectra. Upon examining the ATR – FTIR spectra, the presence of various functional groups was identified: amine (1625 cm−1), conjugated carbonyl (1630 cm-1), carbonyl (1720 cm-1), conjugated methyl (2920 cm-1), phenol and carboxyl groups in the background (3400 cm-1), silicates like asbestos and kaolinite (Si-O, 800 cm-1), calcite (709, 871, and 1400 cm-1), quartz (1033, Si-O-Si), siloxanes (1033 cm-1 Si-O-Si, 1265 (Si-(CH3)2)), aldehydes (1710 cm-1 and 2720 cm-1), sulfonic acids (S=O 1200-1300 cm-1 and 3600 cm-1), esters (1710 cm-1), alkanes (2920-2850 cm-1), and carboxylic acids in the background (3500 - 2500 cm-1). Upon analyzing the GC-MS results, it was observed that the samples, except for the background-TSP sample, exhibited a similar molecular fingerprint. Significantly large peak areas were observed in the residential area dust sample. The highest signals were identified in the silane hydrocarbon group (8 compounds) in the residential area dust sample. In the alkane group (2 compounds), eicosane and heneicosane were detected. In the phthalate group, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and Dibutyl phthalate (2 compounds) were found. Phenol was identified in the phenol group, and 2,4-bis(1-phenylethyl) was detected as well (1 compound). In the carboxylic acid group, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid and hexadecanoic acid (2 compounds) were identified. Carboxylic acid and phthalate groups were identified only in the background-dust sample. Phytotoxicity tests using Lepidium sativum (garden cress) were employed to assess the toxicity of settled dust and particulate samples. In the rural inorganic, quarry dissolved inorganic extract, and background TSP organic samples, as well as rural dust organic and background dust organic extracts, inhibitory effects on growth were observed.