Metals and mineral phases of dusts collected in different urban parks of Krakow and their impact on the health of city residents

The authors present the results of chemical and mineralogical analyses of urban dusts collected in the spring seasons of 2015 and 2016 in three different parks of the Cracow agglomeration. The parks are located in the city centre, in the Nowa Huta industrial district and in a new housing development situated around 9 km west of the city centre. Mineralogical instrumental analyses included the SEM, FTIR and XRD methods and revealed that the dusts of Cracow are highly amorphous and contain significant amounts of hydrocarbons, whereas quartz, feldspars, kaolinite and gypsum are their crystalline phases. Chemical analyses were carried out using the ICP-MS method on aqua regia extracts of the starting samples. The contents of selected toxic elements are: As 5–123; Cd 1–14; Pb 56–258; Zn 486–1891 mg/kg and Fe 0.74–4.02 wt%. The health risk of these elements imposed on the residents of Cracow frequently visiting the three urban parks was assessed on the basis of the health quotient index HQ. At its values exceeding 1, adverse health effects are probable in humans. The HQ values calculated for As and Tl contained in the Cracow Park dusts in the case of adults are 3.42E−01 and 3.00E−01, respectively. They are significantly higher (one order of magnitude) in the case of children 3.19E+00 and 2.27E+00, respectively.