Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in dry atmospheric deposits from Sfax solar saltern area in southeast of Tunisia

Concentrations of six heavy metals such as Fe, Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni and Zn in dry atmospheric deposits weekly collected through 20 sample sites from Sfax solar saltern during two successive sampling campaigns, selected from a long time monitoring, have been examined in order to evaluate their contamination levels as well as their human health risk; such concentrations (expressed in mg/kg) have shown that Fe varied from 7006.24 to 7856.45, Pb from 8.64 to 344.45, Cu from 9.33 to 298.67, Cd from 0.16 to 85.24, Ni from 6.02 to 150.02, and Zn from 12.23 to 624.57. During the study period, average concentrations (mg/kg) have been 7315.99, 103.08, 82.34, 15.93, 46.21 and 142.39, for Fe, Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni and Zn, respectively. Except for Fe, the other concentrations in dry atmospheric deposits have recorded the highest level during the first campaign especially in the sites which are close and more exposed to emissions of local pollutant industries, as well as nearby main road, resulting from high exposure frequencies. Statistical approaches, such as principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis have been applied to all data, revealing an affinity between analyzed metals resulting from their origins, and confirming the influence of exposure frequencies on the spatial variability of heavy metal concentrations. Human health risk assessment has revealed that ingestion of heavy metals is the main exposure pathway for the local population. Computed Hazardous Quotient and Hazardous Index have been higher for children than for adults, thus indicating that the former may be subjected to potentially higher health risk than the latter especially during the first campaign. Calculated carcinogenic risks through ingestion and dermal contact, as well as the total carcinogenic risk for the selected heavy metals, have shown that cancer could occur more probably through ingestion than dermal contact, for children than adult, and during the first campaign (during C1: average values CRing = 8.72 × 10−4 and CRder = 1.40 × 10−6 for child; average values CRing = 5.61 × 10−5 and CRder = 2.84 × 10−6 for adult) than the second one (during C2: average values CRing = 1.59 × 10−4 and CRder = 2.54 × 10−7 for child; average values CRing = 1.02 × 10−5 and CRder = 5.19 × 10−7 for adult). The total calculated carcinogenic risk through all the sites have infrequently signaled high to very high carcinogenic risk in the first campaign (average CRA = 8.73 × 10−4 for child and CRA = 5.89 × 10−5 for adult) and occasionally exceeded the safe range for the local population in the second one (average CRA = 1.59 × 10−4 for child and CRA = 1.07 × 10−5 for adult).